Opinion: Accident in Chisinau – a Diagnosis of the Law Enforcement System of Moldova

Regular RTA expert Vladimir Rotar is sure that the talked about fatal road accident in the center of Chisinau can be considered as an eloquent assessment of all governmental system of Moldova “Of course, first of all, the accident in the Moldovan capital is a tragic accident. But its circumstances are frankly shocking. The culprit of yesterday’s accident repeatedly violated traffic rules, got behind the wheel drunk, she was deprived of her driver’s license, even sentenced to 6 months in prison. And yet none of this prevented her from being on the road on that luckless day,” says Vladimir Rotar. The expert draws special attention to the fact that, according to the Moldovan media, the woman was constantly covered up in the National Patrol Inspectorate. “All her violations were overlooked on orders from the top, and she continued to race with impunity on the streets of the capital. This is a particular feature of the political and social structure of Moldova, where nepotism and connections have long replaced real democracy and human rights,” the analyst says. According to Rotar, in the last years of the Democratic Party dictatorship in the country there was an imposed, manual control system, where all instructions came directly from the GBC office (Plahotniuc’s residence – ed.), and loyalty was valued much higher than professionalism. “This has led to heaviness and stagnation in government departments at all levels, lack of initiative and uncontrolled desire of all cogs of the system for personal enrichment. When the new power came, the population waited not so much for Plahotniuc’s demonstrative imprisonment with Sor, but for the break of this rotten regime. Waiting for real, not just on paper, reforms and changes for the better,” says Rotar. According to the analyst, in fact, little has changed during these four months. “Moldovan politicians are still concerned about geopolitical vectors, internal struggle, control over the power institutions. The real cases are put in a drawer. The accident in Chisinau gives a true assessment of the efforts of the new government. One cannot surely say that it could have been prevented, but it is absolutely certain that nothing was done for this,” the expert says. According to Rotar, it is difficult to expect real improvements in the law enforcement system, when the office of the Interior Minister was literally given to one of the leaders of the ruling coalition. “Andrei Nastase almost did not hide the fact that he considers his position as a springboard for further political career. All actions and statements of the newly minted Minister had only one purpose: to be elected mayor of Chisinau. Nobody really got close to carrying out truly important tasks, like criminal prosecution of aggressors and robbers of Moldova. All that is remembered in the short leadership of Nastase is a cross in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and gossip around the new Inspector General of Moldovan police,” said the expert. According to Vladimir Rotar, the Ministerial experience of Nastase, who has already resigned to participate in local elections, was another lost time for the Moldovan law enforcement system. “The new government repeats the mistakes of the old one. How many more road crashes and other catastrophes are needed before ministers begin to engage in their direct duties, not the election campaign? Euro-Atlantic integration, vectors, pathetic speeches about democracy and deoligarchization are great and certainly pleasant for external partners. But there is a feeling that the government is completely caught up in air castles, while its already dilapidated ‘Moldovan house’ is falling apart before our eyes. Are human sacrifices really necessary to pay attention to this?” the expert’s wondering.