In an interview with BIRN, Maia Sandu said events in Belarus show that modern societies are no longer prepared to tolerate electoral fraud, and that her opponent should take heed.
Only by rooting out corruption can the lives of ordinary Moldovans improve, pro-European presidential hopeful Maia Sandu told BIRN in an interview in which she warned of street protests if her opponent, incumbent President Igor Dodon, tries to fix the results of an election due inSandu, a 48-year-old Harvard-educated former World Bank adviser, heads the biggest opposition party in the former Soviet republic.
She spent five months as prime minister last year, crafting what she called an “ambitious plan” to overhaul the country’s corrupt and heavily politicised judicial system, only to see it shelved when she was shunted from office by her coalition partner, the pro-Russian Socialists.
Sandu said she was brought down by “oligarchic forces” opposed to her reforms, but that Moldovans wanted a fair, uncorrupted justice system and supported her Action and Solidarity Party.
“And if we are now the top party in all polls, it is because we have inspired the confidence of our fellow citizens that we are able to bring order to this sector,” Sandu told BIRN.
“Unfortunately, corruption, and especially political corruption, is still the main reason for the great problems of our society – poverty, an underdeveloped economy, precarious justice, migration.”
“Because of corruption, the state is weak and institutions are at the mercy of interest groups. Corruption suffocates the economy, dries up the public budget and deprives people of the prospect of a good life at home.”
This, she said, “is why they are leaving the country en masse.”
No ‘political will’ to reform
Amid widespread dissatisfaction over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dodon, the de facto leader of the ruling Socialists, faces a close fight to secure a second term in an election due in November.
Moldova has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 infection in Europe per one million people. Medical workers have been particularly hard hit.
The former head of Democratic Party Vladimir (L) Plahotniuc shakes hands with the President of Moldova Igor Dodon (R) in the State Residence in Chisinau, Moldova, April 2, 2019. Photo: EPA/Doru Dumitru
Dodon, whose former adviser, Ion Chicu, heads the government, currently holds all levers of power in Moldova.
Between June and November last year, Sandu shared power with the Socialists in an unlikely coalition of pro-European and pro-Russian forces reflecting Moldova’s long-standing ideological divide since independence in 1991.
The two joined forces to bring down the Democratic Party led by powerful oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who was accused of presiding over a system built on state capture, brazen corruption and the erosion of media freedoms.
But when Plahotniuc was no longer considered a threat, the Socialists outmaneuvered Sandu, bringing down her cabinet and slamming the brakes on a justice reform designed to root out corrupt judges and prosecutors and install an independent prosecutor-general.
“From the moment I left the government, the judicial reforms have stopped,” Sandu said. “We had an ambitious plan, and if the cabinet had not been overthrown we would have already been in the process of resetting the system.”
Dodon, she said, “is the product of systemic corruption.”
In May this year, a video surfaced which appeared to show Plahotniuc giving Dodon a plastic bag allegedly full of money. Prosecutor-General Alexandr Stoianoglu said there was not enough evidence to warrant an investigation.
“The fight against corruption, justice reform and good governance are the only means to rehabilitate our society,” Sandu said.
Moldova’s failure to reform in line with a 2014 Association Agreement with the EU has repeatedly led Brussels to freeze financial aid to Chisinau.
“Everyone understands that the current government does not have the political will to do these things, and for this reason, people lose twice,” said Sandu. “They are not served with justice and cannot fully benefit from [financial] aid from abroad.”
Sandu warns of street protests if vote is rigged
Proposed amendments to Moldova’s Electoral Code, tabled by the Socialists, would restrict access for independent election observers and have raised eyebrows among the opposition and civil society.
A man holding a banner at a pr
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