The First Year of Maia Sandu’s Presidency: Achievements and Shortcomings

The beginning of Maia Sandu’s presidential term did not particularly convince citizens that the time of good people portends some quick and tangible changes for the better

Sergiu CEBAN, RTA: The other day it was exactly one year since the election of Maia Sandu as President of the Republic of Moldova. The then leader of the Action and Solidarity Party managed to take revenge on her main political rival Igor Dodon for losing the previous elections in 2016. With the diaspora’s massive support, she gained almost 60% of the total number of votes, becoming the first woman to hold the post of head of the republic. During this year, Maia Sandu managed to impose her plan on Moldovan politics, managing to trigger early elections and a radical change of power. Immediately after taking office, on December 28, Sandu convened parliamentary factions for consultations to appoint a candidate for the post of Prime Minister due to the fact that on December 23, Ion Chicu resigned in order to provoke re-elections to parliament. Sandu’s victory led to Moldova’s rapid exit from isolation from the West, as well as to a clear consolidation of the external vector of the state’s development. During her year in office, the President made a significant number of foreign visits, the vast majority of which fell on the countries of the European Union and states in partnership with the West. The unblocking of external financing and the restoration of relations with neighboring Romania and Ukraine can also be called successes, although it is still not possible to agree with the latter on many key issues like the ecology of the Dniester. In addition, by her personal participation in the Crimean Platform and the Association Trio, Sandu once again showed fundamental solidarity with the Western community, as well as overshadowed the irrevocable nature of the pro-European course. It is also noteworthy that for the first time in a long while the leader of the republic enjoys a fairly high level of respect not only from the leadership of neighboring countries, but also in key international capitals, including Washington and Moscow. As for the latter, it may well be temporarily: Sandu’s policy on the Russian track can be called risky at best, if not worse, and things are not so bright with high-level visits, unlike Western capitals. For the most part, the presidential term has been held under the slogan of an uncompromising struggle for a position on the Moldovan political Olympus, so there are very few concrete results that ordinary citizens could enjoy. In the first year of her mandate, Maia Sandu consistently prepared the way for herself and her team and provide the most comfortable conditions for fulfilling the election program. An important milestone in Sandu’s presidential biography was the victory in the early parliamentary elections, which opened the way to further political development of the country and power augmentation. However, since the formation of a mono-majority in parliament and the appointment of a new government, the center of gravity of Moldovan politics has slowly shifted towards legislative and executive institutions, as a result of which the president has become less and less likely to appear in public and comment on what is happening in Moldova. On the other hand, this must be a controlled process: apparently, the more or less impeccable image of the head of state is diligently protected from any associations with failures and crises that haunt the government from the very moment of its appointment. At the same time, the three-month lack of qualified personnel in ministries and departments, the resonant cleansing of state authorities and, in particular, of the prosecutor’s office, several serious “shockers” in healthcare, the Transdniestrian settlement and energy sector, force the Cabinet of Ministers to put the implementation of the president’s ambitious program on indefinite hold. The unsuccessful first hundred days of Natalia Gavrilita’s government and numerous negative episodes in such a short period provided the ground for the opposition forces to offer a revanchist agenda to a voter after three months. Against this background, the still-acting leader of the Party of Socialists Igor Dodon remains hopeful of retaining political heights and demands the resignation of Maia Sandu and the dissolution of parliament to enable the simultaneous holding of early presidential and parliamentary elections. The other day, one of the Moldovan business politicians expressed his appreciation for the president on the occasion of the “anniversary”, noting that Maia Sandu is a unique politician who has no ideology, geostrategic visions, but only a personal credo to help Moldova eradicate corruption. The only question is whether simple romanticism and sincere human eagerness are enough to survive in the big Moldovan politics and be able to implement the ambitious goals set by the president. The first working year as head of state, obviously, was not particularly convincing for citizens that the time of “good people” portends some quick and tangible results. In many ways, Maia Sandu and the Action and Solidarity party’s success was the result of lots of major mistakes made by their predecessors. Judging by the mood in the society, Maia Sandu and the parliamentary majority loyal to her, together with the government, still enjoy a certain reserve of trust among the citizens who expect profound changes, but it may run out soon enough. Therefore, next year promises to be even tougher and to add more challenges for the triune composition of the current government which will be expected to produce much more reasonable and meaningful decisions, since it will be increasingly difficult to blame systematic flaws on the former authorities. Putting aside the subjective criticism of the oppositionists, as well as the no less subjective praises of pro-European supporters who tend only to idealize the current Moldovan president, no one has been able to explain the phenomenon of Maia Sandu as a politician so far. Apparently, the history of her rule will be either an epoch-making and fateful stage for Moldova or a new period of collapse and another dashed hopes.