Voronin About to Unite the Left Forces?

Vladimir ROTARI

The processes of consolidation of forces on the left flank of Moldovan politics are gradually picking up

Compared to a whole series of failures that befell the Action and Solidarity Party in the first months of its undivided rule of the country, the center-left parties are gradually reviving, apparently, having finally recovered from a painful defeat this summer. After a period of demoralization and decline, they finally took heart and did what a normal combat-ready opposition in a democratic state should do – namely, criticize and propose. Of course, one of the most important areas of post-election work for the left was the analysis of the July loss and attempts to draw the right organizational conclusions. It should be recognized that an important reason for the defeat in the early elections was the insufficient mobilization of the root electorate, disappointed in the PSRM and personally its leader, ex-President Igor Dodon. This was imposed on completely opposite processes on the right flank (and in the diaspora), where the voter, on the contrary, was extremely motivated and inspired after Maia Sandu’s victory in the battle for presidency and anticipating the sole rule of her team of the “good people”. As I have already noted, Igor Dodon’s voluntary resignation from the post of the PSRM chairman became a symbol of the coming changes. We still do not know what dictated this decision –a single personal desire (although he had previously said that he was not going to leave his “creation”), internal party processes or even consultations with Russia (after all, Dodon became too toxic, and his image makers could not cover the black package story), which, apparently, started regrouping more or less loyal forces in Moldova after electoral failures. Anyway, earlier I put forward three versions of Igor Dodon’s resignation: insurance in case of persecution by the PAS, a tactical retreat into the “shadow” or a departure from public policy in favor of other leaders. Judging by the past month and a half, so far the truth is closer to the third option. It cannot be said that the ex-president has completely disappeared, but he has clearly become much less noticeable in our political field. Under these conditions, other players moved to the forefront – first of all, the leader of the Communist Party allied to the Socialists, Vladimir Voronin. In the same article, I already called Voronin one of the possible contenders for the role of the center-left wing “spiritual leader”. In favor of the fact that his candidacy was chosen for this purpose, several factors speak at once. The first is a sudden change in the plans of Voronin himself, who until recently was going to go on an “honorable retirement”, having given up the chairman’s post in the PCRM, but eventually entered a new leadership circle. And later admitted that he insisted on it. The second is a significant increase in the media activity of the ex-head of state, who regularly delivers caustic and scathing comments about the blunders of the presidential party and its appointees, which resonates well with a large audience. Only recently, he has gone through such high profile topics as the resignation and prosecution of Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, the municipal elections in Balti, the taking of the Teleradio-Moldova company under parliamentary control and others, emphasizing the arbitrariness created by the authorities. And at a meeting with the head of the Delegation of the European Union, put pressure on PAS, expressing the opinion about the lack of positive developments in solving socio-economic issues, “the qualitative and full implementation of the Association Agreement between Moldova and the EU”, the stolen billion and the fight against corruption. According to him, this indicates the lack of professionalism of the country’s leadership. Voronin’s choice is partly explained by the fact that the senior partners of the PCRM, represented by the Socialists, have a noticeable shortage of leaders after Dodon’s retirement, which is only exacerbated by the “fragmentation” of the party’s management from one person to a group of members of its executive committee. Therefore, despite the fact that the PSRM has also intensified criticism of the authorities, especially successfully speaking on the issue of repealing the law on lowering the retirement age, among the discordant statements of its speakers (Batrincea, Odnostalco, Tirdea, etc.), it is impossible to single out the loudest one. And the listed politicians, admittedly, do not yet have enough potential that the same Dodon had in his day. Therefore, it is the PCRM’s permanent head who will have to act for now as a banner to rally the scattered center-left forces. My colleagues and I have repeatedly stated that consolidation in the current conditions is in fact the only option to survive and take a possible revenge in the future. By all appearances, this process can hardly be avoided, which is confirmed by Voronin’s recent statements. It is not about creating a single bloc but rather initiating an official “co-op” that would include a wide range of ideologically similar parties. As Voronin mentioned this week, the first candidate to join this hypothetical alliance is the Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova (PDCM) headed by ex-Prime Minister Ion Chicu. “There are a lot of people who share the left ideology. The problem is the lack of unity and consolidation of the left forces. Left-wing parties exist. We even have projects that can form the basis for our cooperation. And not only socialists are meant here. The first real party that I see today is the Chicu-led party,” Voronin said. This could be a good asset. Though PDCM showed no prominent results in the previous elections, it was still clear from the start that this party’s going to play the long game. Meanwhile, Chicu’s shares are gradually on the rise, both passively (against the backdrop of the Gavrilita government's failures, activities of his cabinet look more advantageous) and actively (the ex-prime minister does not hesitate to emphasize the current blunders and make unwanted comparisons for the authorities). The only thing that is not completely clear at the moment is whether a bet on Voronin and his gravitas is of a long-term nature. Or, while rallying the forces, he might well give the leadership to a younger and promising politician, who is popular enough on the one hand, and with a minor negative background on the other hand. As it seems, the best candidate for this role so far is the capital’s mayor Ion Ceban who is reinforcing his image as a more or less effective manager and as a fighter against the regime. Moreover, according to the latest polls, his activities are even more positively evaluated than that of Maia Sandu whose rates were just out of reach for her rivals not long ago. Voronin himself, by the way, recently paid a compliment to Ceban, praising him for his successes and desire to engage in economic management, not geopolitics. Anyway, it seems that the rallying processes will only scale up, especially given the need to ride a protest wave that can again bring the left forces to the heights of popularity (like the protests of 2015). Considering that the society is already fueled, it won’t be difficult to make people take to the streets: only desire and resources are needed, but the reasons to rip into the ruling party are already enough. Increased tariffs, the pension issue, legal excesses, deteriorating welfare of the population suffice to recall. As they say, you can choose whatever you like.