The epidemic helps the pro-Western opposition: The moment of truth comes for Dodon
The coronavirus epidemic has posed an unexpected challenge for the supposedly pro-Russian President of Moldova Igor Dodon and promised new opportunities for the pro-Western opposition politician Maia Sandu.
Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers returning home are breaking the electoral balance in the country (back in January, Dodon and Sandu had almost equal levels of support). Now they expect that in the upcoming presidential elections in the fall, Moldovan workers will give their votes to the oppositionist, who advocates friendship with the European Union and ignores Russia.
The authorities tried to prevent the influx of the enemy's electorate. The Moldavian Commission for Emergency Situations decided not to allow citizens into the country who do not have a compulsory health insurance policy (in Moldova, everyone except pensioners buys them). Since April 1, migrant workers, even if they had tickets, were not allowed to board the plane.
People were offered to purchase policies for 2020. But the Moldovans hope to return to work in a few months and do not want to pay 4 thousand lei (about 17 thousand rubles).
Maia Sandu, on the contrary, hopes that migrant workers will stay until the fall and vote for her. Therefore, she demanded that the state pay insurance policies for all those returning and appealed the decision of the emergency commission.
In response, Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Chicu invited the oppositionist to pay for the insurance policies of at least part of the diaspora from her own pocket, since she is so kind. The head of government himself nobly allocated his April salary for these purposes.
Presidential Advisor Ernest Vardanyan spoke out more radically. He accused the opposition of sabotage by bringing thousands of coronavirus carriers into the country. This statement escalated the debate in the media to the limit.
Apparently, in order not to escalate the situation, on Friday the authorities softened the conditions for returning to their homeland. Now every migrant worker simply writes a written commitment at the border to buy a policy upon arrival within 72 hours.
Sandu celebrated her victory with a post on her Facebook, where she demanded that the authorities organize “sufficient flights” so that all Moldovans who have not obtained residence permits in Europe can return.
Moldovan sociologists only approximately estimate the number of guest workers who can return to the country – 300 thousand people. Before April 1, more than 100 thousand people moved in (the policy could still be purchased at half price). At the same time, experts find it difficult to say which part of the returnees will come from Europe and which from Russia.
The latter could potentially vote for Dodon, but the Moldovan president himself does not seem to believe in this. His new ally, the honorary chairman of the Democratic Party (the brainchild of oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who fled the country), Dmitry Diacov, proposed returning to the election of the country's president in parliament, since a normal campaign cannot be carried out in the conditions of an epidemic.
Let us note that you cannot hold normal protests when the population is in quarantine. Therefore, the path to the most daring political reforms in Moldova is open. Including pro-Russian steps, once promised by Dodon, but never implemented.
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