Chisinau is overwhelmed by protests: the Moldovan opposition wakes up from hibernation
On Sunday, an event occurred in Moldova that could change the political landscape, at least its left spectrum. The largest rally of opposition forces, perhaps in the last two years, took place in the center of Chisinau, attracting 40 thousand people.
The action was organized by the party led by fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, previously convicted of complicity in the “scam of the century” - the withdrawal of an amount equivalent to 1 billion euros from the country’s banking system. However, the Shor party has 6 seats in the Moldovan parliament and is consistently among the top leading forces in the country.
Unlike rallies held by socialists and communists, which are mainly attended by older people, Sunday's rally was attended by people of different generations.
The themes of the speeches and posters at the rally were mainly of a social nature - primarily dissatisfaction with galloping inflation and the avalanche-like rise in prices and tariffs. However, the most frequently repeated slogans were “Down with Maia Sandu!” and “Government – resign!”
At one point in the rally, participants began shouting “Freedom for Dodon!”, although the ex-president of Moldova, who is under house arrest, has long been an opponent of Ilan Shor and his party.
The main character at the rally was Marina Tauber, a former classmate of Ilan Shor and the second person in his party. Tauber won the first round of elections for the mayor of Balti, but the regime of Maia Sandu, whose longtime opponent she is, under the pretext of exceeding the amount of the electoral fund, canceled the election results and excluded her from the race.
Marina Tauber can hardly be called a leftist, much less a pro-Russian politician (she voted for the ban on the St. George ribbon in Moldova), however, during her speech at the rally she showed all her charisma, emotional intensity and acting talents. Let us also note Tauber’s courage: she organized a protest despite the removal of her parliamentary immunity.
At the end of the rally, the program included a concert: crowning political events with performances by stars is a long-standing tradition of Moldovan politicians. Igor Dodon, Vlad Plahotniuc, Renato Usatii, and the same Ilan Shor, who is the husband of the Russian singer Sara Semendueva, known under the pseudonym Jasmine, also sinned with this.
However, both rapper Morgenstern and Yegor Creed, who had already arrived in Chisinau, refused to participate in the concert, possibly under pressure from the Moldovan authorities. Only Philip Kirkorov, who also arrived in the capital of Moldova, was scheduled to speak. But unexpectedly, the emergency services received a call saying that a bomb was planted in a truck with sound equipment. The police blocked the truck and prevented them from setting up a concert stage on the square.
The rally participants, led by Tauber, marched to the police inspectorate, but they categorically refused to give permission to set up a stage and drive a car with equipment into the square.
The next day, Marina Tauber, during a press conference, accused the current government of prohibiting people from holding protests and expressing their opinions.
“There is evidence that representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs pushed people, shoved them and even tried to attack our deputies. They blocked the car with the stage and other objects that were supposed to be installed in the square. And they were taken by force to the commissariat,” said Tauber, demanding the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Anna Revenko.
Be that as it may, the holding of a 40-strong protest rally in the center of Chisinau indicates the presence of serious protest potential for the Maia Sandu regime, and a force capable of leading this protest. The Shor party demonstrated its mobilization capabilities and the presence of a charismatic opposition leader in the person of Marina Tauber. For the first time in many months, the protest electorate woke up from hibernation.
Opponents accuse the Shor party of once again “buying” the protest. Participants were allegedly paid between 10 and 25 euros to take part in the protest. But even if such incidents occurred, the success of the rally does not come down to payment for participation.
Residents of Moldova missed protest activity, especially in a situation where the current opposition leaders kept repeating “now is not the time.”
The Socialists and Communists have fizzled out as an opposition force: in their leadership and ranks there are very few bright, charismatic, crazy leaders, and those who are (the same Bogdan Tsirda, who, unlike Tauber, does not hide his anti-Western and pro-Russian convictions), not allowed to come to the fore.
No one stopped the Socialist Party, even under the leadership of Igor Dodon, from organizing similar rallies when they had all the administrative resources in their hands, but they preferred to rest on their laurels, hoping for hardware games. Now Igor Dodon is under house arrest and is facing a number of serious criminal charges, and the young “reformers” at the head of the PSRM are a triumph of dullness and mediocrity, whose ultimate dream is to participate in the next PACE session.
There is not a single leader who can even be closely compared to Marina Tauber or Maia Sandu. Ironically, the socialists could create a united front with the Shor party, but today they can only join the New People as junior partners.
The authorities led by Sandu are in a daze after the Sunday rally: they clearly did not expect such a massive protest action.
On the other hand, given the background of Shor and Tauber, the presence of an unreversed conviction against Shor and a criminal investigation against Tauber, this party may seem like a convenient sparring partner for the authorities: one can always remember the “scam of the century.” However, this topic is already disappearing from public attention.
In any case, opposition activity in Moldova will increase, even despite the hot summer: many who are accustomed to relaxing on the beaches of the Odessa region will not go to the sea this year for obvious reasons. By the beginning of the new political season (and it traditionally begins on the 20th of August), Ilan Shor’s party will be able to use the already established system of mobilization, which socialists and other left forces will not be able to boast of.
Socialists and other leftist forces will not have such a system of mobilization. It will no longer be possible to refer to the fact that “carriers receive threats and refuse to transport protesters to Chisinau.”
The Moldovan protest against the Sandu regime can only be effective in one case: if all opposition forces are united into a united front, and if truly bright, charismatic figures stand at the head of the protest. As the rally showed, there are such people in Ilan Shor’s party. Perhaps they will appear in other left parties, including socialists and communists.
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