Opinion: “Maia Sandu Pretended PAS Lawyer”

The president has actually opted to stay away from the country’s problems, channeling her almost two-hour press conference mainly into justifying the failed policies of the ruling regime

Semyon ALBU, RTA: Yesterday Maia Sandu, sitting solemnly on a luxurious, throne-like chair, had a long conference with the media. I don’t know why her advisers thought it was a good decision to hold it simultaneously with Vladimir Putin’s direct line. Eventually, our president’s press conference was clearly overshadowed by the Russian president’s answers. However, there was still interest in what Sandu would say. Some people hoped that the head of state could give us at least a bit of positive vibes before the holidays. Such a well-known PR trick, when the situation is aggravated to the maximum, and then a strong leader comes out and with the high ground decision solves everything. I personally did not expect this from the Madam president, but still such sentiments were present in the society. Especially since the situation is for sure really tense: protest actions are sprouting like mushrooms after rain, gas tariffs have risen, and soon electricity tariffs will rise, and inflation is increasing. And most importantly, there is rather real energy crisis looming ahead, with the prospect of rotating power cuts, a phenomenon long forgotten by our population. But apparently, the “good times” also imply a return to the 90s. Against this background, Maia Sandu gives a press conference where the most frequently used words are the European Union, disinformation, propaganda and war. Which suggests that either she continues to be trammeled with illusions and the picture of the world and Moldova invented by her advisers, or she has decided to work as a “devil’s advocate”. Choose for yourself which option is better. So, according to the president’s version, the authorities managed to cope “with a challenging situation”, to overcome the problems and consequences of the war, preserving peace and stability. She said that the economy is not doing well, but only because of the conflict in Ukraine, that the media have to be shut down because they harm democracy and deceive the population, that the government enjoy her full confidence and does everything to increase the salaries of citizens. In general, everything is “clear” with the course and policy of the country, and Recean seems to have no more worries about his post. Except that Sandu repented for not communicating enough with the population in Russian, but we understand that this is just a cheap trick before the parliamentary elections. Of course, there were usual attacks on Russia, which was urged to “leave us alone”: the accusations of attempts at destabilization, vote-buying, etc. But praise was given to the EU, Romania and NATO, which is “helping us to consolidate our defense system”. Sandu did not fail to refer, along with other officials and experts, to the manual on the need to strengthen air defense. Indeed, a country with the highest absolute and extreme poverty rates in decades needs only to think about the importance of air defense. The president in a poker-faced manner replied to the most pressing questions on energy that power outages, as well as an increase in electricity tariffs, are possible, but we will definitely not pay more for gas than last year. Quite an “achievement”. She, by the way, has been in full solidarity with the government in terms of finding “excuses” for not holding any negotiations either with Kyiv or Moscow regarding the transit of gas to the left bank of the Dniester. Allegedly, there is a contract between Moldovagaz and Gazprom, which “must be fulfilled”. The fact that the authorities themselves violated it by unilaterally auditing the historical debt of the right bank for gas, which was naturally denied by the Russian Federation, did not confuse Sandu at all. What conclusions can be drawn? Firstly, the head of the republic has actually recused herself from all the problems, talking about them more like an invited expert than the first person of the state. Secondly, she is personally completely satisfied with the regime’s policy – moreover, she is ready to defend and justify it. Thirdly, we should not expect any changes in Sandu’s priorities in comparison with the first term. Well, what did you expect when you voted for her? It is rather symbolic that yesterday, in parallel with the press conference of the president, who ranted so much about the defense of democracy and gave compliments to her regime, her party passed such a peculiar law “to fight electoral corruption” that it nips democracy in the bud. Just a little insight. If “signs of extremism” are detected (and this can be any criticism of the regime), it is possible to forcibly liquidate religious and public associations, ban the activities of the media for a year and then also close them down and include them in the Register of Extremist Organizations. Time limits of several months have been set for investigations and court proceedings under the criminal articles “electoral corruption”, “falsification of voting results”, ‘illegal financing of political parties, initiative groups, election candidates or participants in referendums”, and others. If someone wants to register a new party, he should get the opinion of the Constitutional Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Security and Intelligence Service. In other words, three structures that have been tightly seized by PAS. A negative verdict of any of them is enough to cancel registration. As for the already existing parties, the period of temporary ban on their activities has increased from six months to a year. To avoid unnecessary job, a total ban on audio-visual programmes from Russia is being introduced. The above-mentioned is by no means the best European practices, but another even more brazen usurpation of power by the PAS party, which has already lost all shame. All these bans, coupled with the new state of emergency regime, make it virtually impossible to conduct a parliamentary campaign in a fair and competitive manner. But, as we can see, everything is fine with the Western partners, and everything is fine with the president, as long as she is ready to justify this shame for two hours. Well, let us look further at the chronicles of the “yellow plague” in our country.