Inglorious end of ACUM: Moldova Left Alone Without a Single Pro-European Force

Vladimir Rotar Maia Sandu will now have to rebuild the right flank from scratch and look for PAS new allies The pro-European ACUM bloc, which was in agony this week, seems to have completely "lost its spirit." Its death was officially ascertained by the DA platform leader Andrei Nastase: “As soon as we went through the election campaign with the bloc, we said that we would have only one group in the parliament, we decided that we should act just the same way. I insisted as much as I could, but PAS decided to make two fractions, I took note of this and continued working. In the election campaign in Chisinau, the situation repeated once again. We insisted on having only one group in the municipal council and even promised to people that we would have one group, and we won’t conclude any alliances with the socialists, but everything got different ... This block was created for the parliamentary elections, and then its activity was extended to local elections. Then, I saw the attitude and statements of our PAS colleagues. What would you like? There is nothing to do about it.” Immediately after this confession, Andrei Nastase allowed himself other revelations. For example, he bluntly said that the Maia Sandu government made a mistake when it claimed responsibility for amending the law on prosecution. According to Nastase, “the power should have been preserved at all costs”, supposedly to continue the projects launched in various fields, the reforms and the criminal cases against officials of the Plahotniuc regime. Behind the understandable bitterness of the DA leader at the already former partners lies one key thought that is hard to disagree with: ACUM has truly fully realized its original mission. It allowed a united front within the elections and in the conditions of fierce competition with socialists and democrats to get a solid representation in parliament. In addition, the bloc even exceeded its task, becoming a part of the ruling coalition and forming a government. But probably the last success was the starting point, which ultimately led ACUM to death. After all, it is one thing to be a “pro-European opposition” and criticize Plahotniuc and Dodon, enjoying the full support of the European Union, and quite another think is to independently “lead” a country that has long been plunged into economic and domestic political chaos. The short-time ruling of the pro-European bloc quickly revealed its substantial emptiness, the absence of any content, but the electoral one. ACUM did not succeed in proposing any fresh ideas, no breakthrough agenda, which could “shake up the country” in a good way, nothing but a little warmer relation with the European Union. Which, in general, is also far from the personal merit of the Moldovan "pro-Europeans". Moreover, after the Sandu government fall, ACUM could not even become a regular opposition. Instead of easily gaining political points on the socialist’s blunders, the bloc members quickly stuck in internal petty squabbles. The “imbalance of leaders” of the pro-European formation and their mutual suspicion of each other played its role. The last "stumbling block" was probably the by-election to parliament for the Hincesti District. It is well known that, after the turbulent events of recent months, both Sandu and Nastase “ended up with nothing”. It is obvious that, for both of them it would not go amiss a deputy mandate as an additional aid in the presidential race. Judging by the recent events, the ACUMs did not succeed to agree on who exactly will stand as a candidate in Hincesti. After the crash of ACUM, it is possible, to predict for a short period the crisis of right-wing forces who will need time to recover. However, you should not write them off completely. PAS has recently significantly strengthened its position, confidently taking the second place in the polls after PSRM. And Maia Sandu’s personal rating is only slightly inferior to that of President Igor Dodon. Instead, the “star” of Andrei Nastase is experiencing a precipitous decline: the failure in the line duty of Minister of the Interior and the loss in Chisinau strongly affected his popularity (his trust rating is only 3%, the situation within the DA platform is also uneasily). Therefore, it may occur absolutely real in the future a situation when Maia Sandu will “drag” the right flank alone. However, the search for new partners is still in force, since the ex-prime minister has options. For example, an alliance with unionists cannot be ruled out, especially since Sandu has never hidden her, at least, compassion for the ideas of the unirea. Another interesting option is the newly formed Civil Congress, whose informal leader, Mark Tkaciuk, almost openly offers cooperation. However, the most realistic option remains a partnership with the Democrats, especially since Sandu herself has already expressed readiness for it, on condition that PDM gets “cleansed”. It is very likely that it was the Western partners’ scenario with coalition between PAS and the Democratic Party formation to be implemented the next year. Getting rid of the weakening Nastase can ultimately work for Maia Sandu’s benefit, allowing her without unnecessary negotiations and coordination to prepare for the upcoming presidential election as the main rival of Dodon. Well, to accomplish it there will be necessary to rebuild the right flank - and this is an extremely difficult task. As the ACUM’s short existence experience shows, the Moldovan right flank is not ready to sacrifice its political ambitions for the sake of the “common good”.