“You have to be crazy to want power in Moldova now.” What is happening around the opposition party "Shor"

The Government of the Republic of Moldova sent an initiative to the Constitutional Court to recognize the Shor party, which regularly holds protests in the center of Chisinau, as illegal.

Minister of Justice of the Republic of Moldova Sergei Litvinenko, the author of the initiative, explained that the Shor party has been subject to sanctions more than once for violating the rules of financing election campaigns, and can threaten the security of the country, since it receives funding from criminal groups, and also enjoys “wide support from the special services of the Russian Federation.” .

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

The government's initiative was supported by President Maia Sandu, and it could be assumed that the Constitutional Court would do the same. However, a day later, on November 10, the judicial body returned the request to dissolve the Shor party to the authors for revision, citing non-compliance with established procedures.

The PolitNavigator correspondent talks with political scientist Alexander Korinenko about what is happening around the opposition party.

PolitNavigator: Are the authorities trying to liquidate the Shor party out of fear that it might gain an indecently large number of votes in the elections?

Alexander Korinenko: I don’t think that the ruling PAS party, intending to ban the Shor party, is thinking about the upcoming elections. Still, the Shorovites and the Pasovites have different segments of the electorate, and any party on the left flank will be in opposition to the ruling party. Another thing is that the Shorovites encourage the masses to protest, and their protests are distinguished by creativity and good preparation. They are not limited to standing in the square, but actually destabilize the political and social situation, and this cannot but cause concern for the president’s team.

PolitNavigator: Why did Shor’s party get a firm grip only now, and if it really broke the law, then why does Shor still remain a deputy?

Alexander Korinenko: Because the Shor party has now become the main opposition force, and its leadership has decided not just to warm seats in parliament, but to act, and they act harshly and dangerously. Every search and arrest forces the Shorovites to react more decisively towards government officials. And the fact that Ilan Shor still remains a deputy is a question for Moldovan justice. Despite the fact that one of the main fetishes of the Europeans and Maia Sandu personally was justice reform, they were unable to change anything here, and the reform simply failed. Moldovan justice is a closed clan system that lives its own life, representing a state within a state. Ilan Shor, most likely, was able to “become one of his own” for the system.

PolitNavigator: Justice Minister Sergei Litvinenko wrote on Facebook to justify his initiative that “the findings of the US authorities and materials that have become public show that this party (Shor) promotes the interests of a foreign state, and therefore acts against the sovereignty and independence of the country.” But the current government and the ruling party itself, based on this statement, do not promote the interests of a foreign state? What does this have to do with the “conclusions of the US authorities”? Can the Ministry of Justice no longer cope without the United States?

Alexander Korinenko: The functionaries of the current government come from NGOs who are accustomed to reporting to the American embassy for every grant. Yes, indeed, Mr. US Ambassador is the ultimate truth for them. They, like me, do not believe in the Moldovan democratic system, so they appeal to someone who is an authority for them. They do not particularly deny that they are promoting the interests of Western states, and they also took an oath of allegiance to the neighboring state [Romania - approx. author] when obtaining citizenship. But at the same time, they sincerely believe that those from the West are “good guys”, so promoting their interests is great, but in the east we have “Mordor”, and the same approaches do not work. If you call for unification with Romania, you are a unionist; if you call for unification with Russia, you are an extremist.

PolitNavigator: Do you think the government will re-send the initiative to dissolve the Shor party to the Constitutional Court?

Alexander Korinenko: The government may still initiate initiatives to ban the party or try to neutralize the party in other ways. In fact, banning the party will not solve anything; it will simply reorganize into a new political force. In addition, perhaps the judges in the Constitutional Court are more reasonable and believe that banning the party will lead to Shor going through all the authorities, appealing to the ECHR and other organizations, which will negatively affect the international image of the leadership of Moldova.

PolitNavigator: Could Shor himself be interested in dissolving his party?

Alexander Korinenko: It is quite possible that Ilan Shor benefits from this development of the situation, since it will intensify the protests, and besides, the Moldovan society has sympathy for the victim politicians.

PolitNavigator: If the government does succeed in banning the party, what will happen to the Shor parliamentary faction? Ilan Shor himself stated that PAS intends to take away the mandates of his party in order to gain a constitutional majority in parliament. Immediately after this, they will allegedly make changes to the Constitution, renounce neutrality and apply for Moldova to join NATO. Is this a real scenario? What changes are possible in parliament?

Alexander Korinenko: Let's not forget that in order to deprive a deputy of his mandate, serious evidence and the consent of the parliamentary majority are needed. The scenario that Mr. Shor described would be yet another violence against the already weak Moldovan democracy. Banning a party does not automatically deprive its representatives of parliamentary mandates; then criminal cases will have to be drawn up against everyone.

In the event of a ban, the Shor party will retain the parliamentary group. If – theoretically – all the deputies of the faction are arrested, then their places should be taken by representatives of the party list who follow them, but these places will not go to the PAS party, this option is impossible by law. If they really wanted to get a constitutional majority, the “yellows” would have found four defector deputies in other parties. The experience of our legislative body in this sense is not just great - it is enormous.

PolitNavigator: What will happen to the street protests that Shor and his party have been organizing since September? Will they continue?

Alexander Korinenko: I'm sure they will continue and be tougher. The authorities have chosen forceful tactics, while those driven into a corner act decisively and harshly. In addition, pay attention to the work of political strategists in preparing protests. They are very creative, decisive - this is a new word in the protest movement. Shor's political strategists borrow many of the techniques from the same Soros: distributing flowers to police officers, appealing to their conscience, throwing eggs at law enforcement officers, tent cities and the use of pyrotechnics. Of course, Western specialists recognize their methods and know their effectiveness: they themselves developed them for color revolutions. Madame President also knows about this.

 PolitNavigator: When the government raised the issue of banning the party, Shor declared the need for a “last and decisive battle” and called for “liberating Moldova from the invaders who brought disaster to the country.” How likely is it that the current government will be displaced?

Alexander Korinenko: Ilan Shor is only escalating the situation. It is obvious that he and his party have other goals. You have to be a very brave person or a madman to want power in Moldova now. No political government can cope with the crisis to which the current authorities have brought us. The protests are aimed at elections. The nearest ones are local, in the spring of next year. Political parties expect that the heating season will pass, the people will be poor and angry, and those who survive the winter will not cast their votes for PAS.

PolitNavigator: How would you comment on the fact that right now the personal correspondence of Minister of Justice Litvinenko, including with a number of officials, has been hacked and made widely public?

Alexander Korinenko: Two options. Or representatives of the opposition are heating up the situation before the next protests, and this is a new trigger for discontent among the masses, given that the correspondence contains evidence of violations of the law, as well as disdain for entire ethnic and social groups. Or it was arranged by party comrades who do not like Sergei Litvinenko and want to eliminate him, because the correspondence with the president, prime minister and other important government functionaries was not published.

PolitNavigator: What other political formations in Moldova may be subject to persecution by the authorities?

Alexander Korinenko: All left-wing parties, since the authorities believe that they are working to expand the influence of another, “very bad country.” On the other hand, leftist parties will try to seize the initiative in terms of protests so that the Shorovites do not finally become the main opposition force.