Sandu: Many Candidates Want to Turn the Campaign and Debates into a Vulgar Show

The Moldovan president did not answer to the question whether she would participate in the election debates. According to the law, the president cannot suspend the performance during the election campaign, but we will make every effort to ensure that this is not interpreted as exploiting the office for electoral purposes. These assurances were made by President Maia Sandu, a potential candidate for another mandate to lead the country. This is reported by ipn.md. Maia Sandu explained that, according to the law, she cannot suspend her duties as president of Moldova during the electoral campaign, but said that she will clearly separate her electoral activity from that of the head of state. “During the pre-election campaign period, I will not use my official car for campaigning activities. I will limit public actions that can be regarded as election campaigning, i.e. meetings, official visits. When an election campaign starts, the rules change. Even if there are no clear rules in the legislation, we will take all measures that correspond to common sense so that there will be no accusations. The team that will work with me will be relieved of their duties because in their case it is allowed by law. I will make every effort to avoid conflicts and to prevent statements that I am trying to exploit my position for electoral purposes,” Maia Sandu said in the programme “În Profunzime” on ProTV Chișinău. Maia Sandu explained that with many presidential contenders seeking to discredit the election, there is a risk that the pre-election debates will turn into a vulgar spectacle. The head of state said that no final decision has been made whether she will participate in the televised debates. “Debates are an effective element of democracy, especially when those who participate in them want to debate on specific issues and in a civilized manner. But when a few candidates turn these debates into a blatant show, it does little to help citizens form their opinions. Unfortunately, I believe there are candidates in this campaign who have other goals and want to turn both the campaign and the debates into a sideshow. I didn’t say I won’t participate; we’ll see how things develop. We’ll see who's in the debate. Citizens will see what kind of people are running, what they have done in the past, who supports them, who funds them, whose interests they promote. In this election there are candidates who are not entirely sincere, they are guided by one single source and come to the debates not to solve issues in a democratic way, but to turn the discussion into absurdity,” Maia Sandu added.