Expert: The Main Thing for New Leaders of Moldova Is Not to Become Plahotniuc No. 2

According to RTA regular expert Vladimir Rotar, the temptation to head the long-lasting ‘schemes’ of the odious oligarch may become the main challenge for the Sandu-Dodon government. The main event of the Moldovan weekend was the return to the country of scandalous politician and businessman Renato Usatii, who left Moldova back in 2016. The leader of Our Party made a big entrance in the territory of the Republic of Moldova, was detained by the police, but later the Prosecutor’s office canceled the warrant for his arrest. After that, Usatii promised to focus on party affairs in the near future, and most importantly, expressed his willingness to testify and provide the accumulated materials “against the regime of Vlad Plahotniuc”. “Renato Usatii has repeatedly threatened to ‘turn in’ all illegal enrichment schemes, which ‘ex-master of Moldova’ Vlad Plahotniuc has painstakingly built for years, – says the RTA expert of RTA. – Of course, Renato Usatii has a long-established reputation of the flamboyant politician, prone to different performances and loud statements, which usually need to ‘be divided in two’, and then in three. This was once again proved by his almost theatrical return to Moldova. On the other hand, Usatii unwittingly draws attention to a real problem, since after the Plahotniuc’s departure the accumulated by him criminal schemes have not gone away”. The expert believes that the charter flights departing one after another during the last week from the Chisinau airport do not mean that the illegal enrichment mechanisms have disappeared. “They really lost some of the performers. But pumping money out of the Moldovan economy, stealing budget funds and international aid, smuggling, illegal cross-border trade included beneficiaries not only within Moldova, but also far beyond its borders. Therefore, it is naive to hope that after the Plahotniuc’s departure, the process of looting Moldova will stop abruptly. There is a danger that it will simply change masters,” the analyst thinks. According to Rotar, it is crucial how the new leadership of Moldova will interpret ‘de-oligarchization’. “I hope everyone understands that the defeat of the oligarch and his entourage is only half of the battle. If the authorities are satisfied with Plahotniuc’s flight and exemplary ‘witch hunt’, it will be a mistake. In this scenario, many of the perpetrators of the multi-year devastation of Moldova will surely suffer deserved punishment, but this won’t mean a real de-oligarchization,” says Rotar. “It is naive to believe that after the departure of Plahotniuc, the chains of officials, businessmen and outright crime built over the years will collapse. Probably not: now the situation stands on a pause, and a huge number of people earning on Plahotniuc’s schemes, is in a holding pattern. If the new government really takes up these Augean stables, the system will resist, and will certainly try to negotiate with the new leadership of Moldova. This is the main risk of the current moment,” Vladimir Rotar is sure. According to the analyst, the current period is the most dangerous for the ruling coalition, as it can suddenly cross out all the democratic progress of the last days. In Rotar’s opinion, the return of Renato Usatii, a man from the era of wild capitalism, once friend of Plahotniuc, symbolizes the main challenge of the new government – the ‘Plahotniuc’s legacy’ test. “The era of Plahotniuc is also a kind of way of governing the country through spying, pressure, bribery, telephone rule and the ability to ‘solve problems’. The Sandu government will have to either eradicate these managerial traditions or adapt to them and this requires very strong principles and an iron will. The risk of succumbing to the temptation is also great because the Plahotniuc’s empire has serious resources that the current coalition partners may need in the future struggle with each other,” the expert says. “Definitely today the main risk for the leaders of the new government is not to turn into ‘Plahotniuc No. 2’. From the strategic standpoint, it is necessary to change the entire system in the foreseeable future to make the state apparatus as open, public and people-oriented as possible. This requires reforms that will take time. To prevent the vicious system of Plahotniuc from striking back and absorbing deputies and officials in the ACUM-PSRM coalition, the attention of international partners is needed today more than ever. It seems that one of the fundamental conditions for the return of the European Union’s macro-financial assistance will be the maximum openness of the Sandu government. Probably, in this regard, a broad delegation of European advisers with broad authorities and opportunities to influence the processes taking place in the country will return to Chisinau very soon,” Rotar is convinced.