Opinion: The Time for Electoral Populism Is Coming

Pension increase, feigned concern for minority languages, elimination of toxic personalities lacking popular support – these and other decisions totally uncharacteristic of the ruling regime are a primitive attempt to score points with voters before the parliamentary elections

Semyon ALBU, RTA: I don’t know what the ruling party’s closed polls are showing, but it has suddenly switched to a ‘for all the good and against all the bad’ mode. In general, if PAS suddenly starts going against its own usual stance and doing something completely unusual, it’s a clear sign that elections are approaching. The ‘yellows’ generally show at least some feedback from the people only during election campaigns. Until then, their authoritarian model tolerates no public influence: “we do what we want”, treating the opposition – even the parliamentary one – like a doormat, completely ignoring all its initiatives. At times, even various Western oversight and democratic institutions find it hard to turn a blind eye to this. And we, of course, are well aware of just how deaf and blind they can be when it comes to the regime’s far-from-inclusive political practices. But going into elections with such heavy baggage is inconvenient – you might not even ‘fit’ into the next parliament. Of course, PAS has Plans ‘B’, ‘C’, and so on in case people, for some reason, don’t want to give it enough votes. They’ve already successfully tested the method of rigging through the diaspora, where the results can be inflated overnight, securing victory as if by a last-minute push. And if even that doesn’t work, they can always just annul the results, blaming it on ‘hybrid Russian interference’. As the experience of their Western neighbors shows, you don’t even need evidence for that. If EU member Romania managed to pull it off, then Moldova certainly can. But deep down, even such incompetent politicians and managers as Maia Sandu’s clique still want to win convincingly, leaving no room for doubt. Besides, who knows what the external situation will be like – what if the U.S. starts paying closer attention, or Russia strengthens its influence in the region after the war in Ukraine? In short, a relatively honest electoral victory would be very much welcome. That’s why PAS is now forced to contradict many of its previous actions and statements in an attempt to win public support. Not long ago, when constantly accused of violating the Constitution by failing to index pensions to inflation, the authorities arrogantly responded that under their leadership, pension payments had already increased more than ever in the country’s history. They didn’t even want to hear about the fact that, in reality, the cost of living in Moldova had also skyrocketed in recent years. Last year, the budget included a pension indexation rate of 6.1%. But recently, Maia Sandu announced that after discussions with the government, it was decided to raise this figure to 10%. What an unexpected move! Naturally, parliament quickly approved this gesture of generosity – which, of course, has nothing to do with the upcoming elections – so starting April 1, pensioners will be able to enjoy their increased benefits, thanks to their ‘yellow benefactors’. Now all that’s left is to find a billion lei to fund it, and Bob’s your uncle. At this rate, maybe even railway workers will get something – after all, they received their salaries before the presidential elections, so why not repeat the trick before the parliamentary ones? Though it’s doubtful that CFM employees would be happy to get paid only three times in four years… In addition to pre-election handouts, PAS is pulling other trump cards from its sleeve. The public doesn’t have much fondness for the ruling party in general, but certain appointees are even more unpopular. So, some of them have to be sacrificed to win the bigger chess game. The first such “pawn”, the notorious Andrei Spinu, was removed last year. Now, ‘minister of Moldavia’ Dumitry Alaiba has been sent to a ‘fallback position’. This character distinguished himself only by posting amusing (and sometimes compromising) photos on social media, maintaining a sloppy style, and achieving absolutely nothing in his professional role. Under his watch, the economy kept sinking steadily while the minister himself fantasized about a 10% growth. Now, the ‘fantasizer’ will likely be placed in some cozy position, but far from the public eye. As for the ministry of economy, there were initially rumors that another unpleasant PAS figure, Radu Marian, would take over. But of course, no one wanted to simply swop, so the ministerial seat was given to the little-known – and therefore not particularly irritating, at least for now – Doina Nistor. After all, she’s a serious person with USAID experience, not just anybody. But the most significant metamorphoses are happening in the language issue. We know the stance of the ‘yellows’ very well: in Moldova, the language must be Romanian, and everyone must speak only it! For this, any mention of the Moldovan language was erased from legal acts, including the Constitution, and regional languages were systematically suppressed. And now we see something strange. For example, Maia Sandu is discussing with the Director-General of UNESCO… the preservation of the Gagauz language, which the president called part of ‘our cultural heritage’, while its protection and promotion were declared a ‘priority’. Very funny, considering the nature of the relationship between Sandu and the autonomy, which has not seen any love from the country’s leadership over the past four years. Besides that, the authorities have suddenly become concerned about the Russian language as well. The government, which had previously made multiple attempts to restrict its use in political practice – like this, for example, or in this way – has now proposed establishing a centralized Russian-language translation center for normative acts starting May 1. Allegedly, the quality of translated texts is currently inadequate. How touching – one could almost shed a tear at such tender care. Moreover, PAS deputies have initiated the creation of a public Russian-language TV channel in Moldova! How it will operate, given all the previously imposed restrictions on broadcasting Russian-language content in national media, is unclear. But with elections approaching, even self-imposed restrictions can be lifted. Indeed, it can’t be otherwise, since our people have no access to information in a language they understand. It’s good that the ruling party has finally remembered the existence of minority languages in the country in the fifth year – though don’t you think it’s a bit too late? It seems this is only the beginning, and in the coming months, we will see many more such ‘acts of political will’ that break familiar patterns, each with a single explanation – the scent of upcoming elections. Falling ratings, a growing opposition, the emergence of forces capable of absorbing voters across nearly the entire political spectrum, geopolitical shifts – all of this is forcing PAS to wake up and temporarily put on the ‘champions-of-the-people’ mask. I sincerely hope that this cheap pre-election stunt won’t bring the ‘yellows’ much benefit.