Nastase Is Running for Presidency. Why Did He Decide to Compete with Sandu?

There will be no “single pro-European candidate” in the presidential election in Moldova: despite proposals from colleagues and disapproval of the Western powers, Andrei Năstase himself decided to run for president.   Sergiu Ceban, RTA Judging by the latest activity in the Moldovan political field, the presidential race in Moldova can be officially considered open. The opposing forces are more clearly announcing their candidates for the upcoming electoral battle at the end of this year. Meanwhile, experts are trying to predict how events will develop and whether the republic will be able to avoid another internal political crisis. So far, no one risks making unambiguous forecasts regarding which of the candidates has the most real chances, as well as how fierce the fight for the chair of the head of state will become. Obviously, the current president, Igor Dodon, can feel most confident while maintaining the current power configuration. The same thing cannot be said in relation to other potential participants in the election race, who can be nominated by center-right parties, if the decision on a single candidate is not made. Despite the obvious advantages and prospects, the idea of ​​coordinating one powerful rival to Igor Dodon is at the moment extremely far from practical implementation. The first alarming signal for pro-European forces came on March 1, when at the end of the meeting of the National Political Council, the Dignity and Truth Platform party nominated Andrei Nastase as a candidate for president. The leader of the political formation told his colleagues that “he has received tremendous responsibility from them and accepts it”. In addition, according to the politician, the biggest nightmare that can happen with the Republic of Moldova this fall is Igor Dodon getting a new presidential term. Despite the sociology, which demonstrates a population’s significant support of Maia Sandu, it seems that the PPDT leaders have nevertheless decided on their own political game so as not to completely dissolve in the ex-prime minister’s political rating. An important factor is the personal attitude of the PAS leader towards DA Platform as a junior partner and political donor. This was most clearly manifested in the subjective decision of Sandu, made without special consultations with the ACUM block associates, to make it a matter of principle in the story with the prosecutor’s appointment and to “sink” everyone together. The slightly dismissive nature of contacts between Sandu and Nastase became more evident after the latter’s defeat in the municipal elections, which almost nullified the DA leader’s rating. Andrei Nastase, most likely taught by the 2018experience, is very skeptical of sociological polls that attributed victory to alternative candidates. A key indicator for the PPDT leader is willingness of the Chisinau citizens to vote for him, as indicated by the numbers of the second round of the mayoral elections in Chisinau in 2018 and 2019. In this regard, it is not difficult to understand the politician’s logic, especially his desire to retain a place in the front row of Moldovan politics. Therefore, apparently, he offers his partner Maia Sand an honest competitive process in the first round with the subsequent support of the winner in the second. A similar electoral tactics can be seen in the single-mandate constituency No 38 in Hincesti, where there was no common candidate from the pro-European forces. Moreover, Andrei Nastase showed his principled stand in supporting a former PAS member Grigore Cobzac. Apparently, the former partners in the ACUM block decided by inductive method to determine the “strongest” in the district where the main struggle is expected to unfold between three competitors - Olesea Stamate (PAS), Grigore Cobzac (PPDT) and Stefan Gatcan (PSRM). According to experts, the separate-constituency elections unexpectedly became a large political arena in which the main players are testing out various election strategies that can be used during the decisive presidential contest this fall. Thus, in particular, we can mark the mobilization initiative in the unionist camp, the non-aggression pact by the PAS, as well as the powerful “Stop Dodon!” anti-presidential campaign. The election results will help to understand what positions political forces have in the district center, where the population traditionally supports candidates with pro-European views. In addition, the PAS and PPDT leaders will most likely have new reasons for negotiations, first of all, regarding excessive arrogance, as well as “alienating” actions, which may ultimately turn personally against Andrei Nastase and Maia Sandu. Meanwhile, experts and researchers are following another important electoral indicator with much interest – who the Democratic Party voters will side with. According to political strategists, this may appear to be one of the decisive factors during the presidential race.