Why PAS No Longer Cares About Social Justice and Welfare

Instead of winning the sympathy of voters before parliamentary elections, the ruling party is engaged in buying the loyalty of key state structures and strengthening the authoritarian model of government

Semyon ALBU, RTA: Well, PAS does not look at all like a party that has a crucial election coming up and more than tangible prospects of losing power. What would a normal democratic political force do in such a situation? Fill domestic and, if possible, foreign policy with positive aspects, adopt a socially oriented budget with various bonuses for the population in the form of increased pensions and salaries, try to reduce utility tariffs and so on. The examples are obvious: one can look at the generosity of the ruling coalition in Romania, which did not hesitate even to violate the country’s financial obligations to Brussels. And what do we have? At first glance, the authorities are falling into complete madness. Instead of aiming all their efforts at preventing the energy crisis that is already looming over us with terrible consequences for the whole Moldova, the country’s leadership is either travelling on business trips or making bellicose threats without showing even a shade of concernment. As a result: gas prices have already increased, water tariff has gone up, and electricity tariff seems to have the same fate from 1 January. Heat, according to experts’ forecasts, will also go up in price. The flywheel of inflation is unwinding simultaneously. And the country is once again in a state of emergency. Against the background of such events, anticipating, on the one hand, hard times and, on the other hand, a good moment for making social demands, the teachers and doctors’ unions demanded a significant increase in salaries. And they faced complete incomprehension of the relevant ministries, which were ready only for some symbolic indexations, but no more. As a result, the teachers will still come out for the first protest today, although it could have been easily avoided. But, to all appearances, the authorities do not care much about it. The same strange indifference is observed when it comes to paltry heating compensations, railway workers’ salaries, and other social services. Has Maia Sandu and PAS stopped caring about publicity? As we can see, yes. The presidential election and referendum proved that any vote, even in the most unfavorable starting conditions, can be “overcome”. The same Stalinist principle of “it does not matter how they vote, it matters how they count”. The people of Moldova said no to the constitutional changes on the course to the EU - no problem, we will add the figures overnight. A similar situation happened with the presidential elections. And why cannot it be repeated at the parliamentary elections? After all, PAS has solid ground to build off of in terms of falsification. We cannot say that the party has zero legitimacy at all. There is a core electorate that has been influenced by the usurped media field. And it continues to believe in the rapid European integration and perceives the “yellow” as the best people for this cause. Especially when the latter are constantly patted approvingly on the back by senior comrades from Brussels. And many citizens will eventually choose in favor of the ruling party with its “successful” background in the field of “evacuation to the EU”. Although even a minimal understanding of regional realities will give a clear realization that PAS was just lucky to be in the right place at the right time and to reap benefits. Next comes the diaspora factor. More than 300,000 people “voted” in the second round of this year’s presidential election. At the same time, about 800,000 ballots were printed - can you imagine the potential for falsifications? Why not again draw hundreds of thousands of votes, of which 80% or more will be for the party of power? And this will give at least 10-15 mandates, which will make the “yellow faction” a significant player, and almost surely the major force around which the new ruling coalition will be born. What could, in theory, dissuade the authorities from such brazen actions? Only fear of widespread protest activity, which could “bring down” the arrogant political top brass. And, indeed, it can be predicted that, given the importance of the parliamentary elections, on which the (re)distribution of power resources and financial flows will depend, even our meek opposition will not simply put up with blatant fraud. Especially if the result will be “a near thing”. Therefore, the integrity and stress-resistance of its regime is much more important for PAS than the people’s love, which can be easily drawn. We see as in the case of Georgia that a government with the both feet on the floor and control over the situation does not stand down even under protests supported by influential Western players. Our leadership already has this huge competitive advantage in the form of legitimacy in the eyes of key allies. There are still doubts about the US. Resources hostile to PAS are trying to discern bad signals for it in the latest visit to Washington, where our delegation was not welcomed by the Republicans - although it is unlikely that we had no desire to build bridges beforehand. And for some reason, Maia Sandu was not invited to Paris for the opening of the restored Notre Dame de Paris, where Donald Trump visited. Nevertheless, Sandu and co can still rely on the full support of Brussels, with the key curators in place and who are not giving up the myth of another “success story”. Ursula von der Leyen is still ready to cover all the shame of the “yellows” with both the authority of the European Commission and EU funds. Actually, that’s why PAS no longer cares about social justice or the welfare of citizens. At least, most of them. Budget transfers go strictly into the pockets of those on whose loyalty the regime will hang on in case of any trouble. That is why, instantly after the elections, more than a thousand officials, most of them senior officials, received hefty salary increases, up to half of their salaries. Under the pretext that they “participate in the process of European integration”. Therefore, even earlier, ministers received a one and a half times salary increase. And finally, the PAS government is preparing enormous pensions for the judges of the Constitutional Court, who will have to approve the results of next year’s parliamentary elections with their verdict, up to 80% of their current salaries, which, by the way, were at one point greatly increased by the current regime. Such a social imbalance, when the tap of financial benefits is turned towards those who are not already poor, and does not spill over to people with minimal opportunities, is explained by the authorities in an extremely cynical manner: they say that it is simply cheaper for the budget. Which means that PAS does not care about publicity - the main intention is to buy the loyalty of state structures and strengthen the authoritarian model of government. This is what the party will be doing in the near future, because the already approved state of emergency regime will allow it to act so easily and without unnecessary overpressure.