Moldavian President: The Alliance is most important for us right now and anticipated elections means its end

Early elections in the Republic of Moldova might mean the end of the Alliance for European Integration (AIE) and, more importantly, a halt to economic reforms, temporary Moldavian president Mihai Ghimpu believes. In an interview for HotNews.ro, he says he’s not looking forward to a confrontation with the Venice Commission regarding their opinion on the ways to modify the Constitution, he does not see the role for „playing politics” with anticipated elections. The drop the Liberal Party (PL) has seen in surveys is triggered by the party’s declared Romanianism, Ghimpu added, who also talked about the Republic of Moldova reuniting with Romania.

AIE will break if there will be anticipated elections, president Ghimpu believes. Everyone will then start to think of the future Parliament. „I’m not interested in my future mandate, what role I will get. I’m interested to use the current situation for the benefit of the state and of the people. It is up to the citizens and, unfortunately, they are not always aware of the facts. Now they want to drink milk even if they don’t have a cow back home.”

• „There’s the risk for the Alliance parties to lose the elections due to unpopular measures which need be taken, and hat’s why I’m not in favour of the elections. We have taken responsibility for these reforms. I even said that if the European suggestion had been the change of Constitution through early elections and not through referendum, we should have been told and we would have thus elaborated the IMF memorandum. We would have said that reform begin, but in two years’ time, after we would have passed the early elections, we would have elected the president.”

• „The communists do not stand the chance to return to power. We will increase the chance for overseas citizens to be able to vote and there the communists have obtained very few votes, their mechanisms stopped working, they don’t have administration solutions anymore.”

• „If we have the chance to avoid elections, why should we handle politics when we need to solve their issues: pick up he economy, start the re-launch to increase the people’s living standard. I’m not afraid of elections. We might get one or two less mandates, but this is not the problem. The Alliance would reunite anyway, unless someone betrays and joins the communists. But we will only put a halt to the reform process through elections and that is why I’m against them. Because we need to seize the moment.”

• On the Moldavian Liberal Party dropping in surveys: „In the Republic of Moldova, a party which openly states it is Romanian, and talks Romanian and is pro-union is nit really in line for applause. That’s life.”

• „The most important for us right now is the Alliance, because the anticipated elections mean the end of the Alliance. (…) And it is very important to keep the faith the citizens have in the Alliance, faith which we won it with difficulty.”

• President Mihai Ghimpu claims that reforms must carry on with or without early elections, because of the IMF memorandum. He adds that reforms also depend on foreign investors, which are greatly needed in Moldova. He invited Romanian businessmen in the Republic of Moldova, indicating a cheaper labour force and a favourable fiscal policy. „And secondly, why not build a house next to your brother?” he added.

• „Republic of Moldova’s accession to the EU solves only one issue: the border between the two states disappears, but there are two states having the same market, with the freedom to travel. The Union is something else: it is a problem that cannot be solved through lying and violence. This is what the citizens need to understand. And if they want to, nobody will stop them to unite. We will see, we have the experience of the two Germanys.”, Ghimpu says.

• „The reunion can happen both in the EU or outside the EU” Ghimpu declared, stating that Moldavians can become EU citizens by getting the Romanian citizenship. „Romania can be Moldova’s best lawyer in Brussels because we speak the same language, it helps us learn our mechanism better, the accession procedure. In any situation, the citizen needs to find the quickest and easiest way and for us, Romania is the shortest way to the EU.