Disgraceful elections in Moldova: Why Maia Sandu uses Plahotniuc’s methods

The mayoral elections in the Moldovan city of Balti, which ended last Sunday, will be remembered for their anti-records. On the eve of the second round, originally scheduled for December 5, the court, on the recommendation of the Central Election Commission, removed the absolute favorite of the elections, candidate from the Shor party Marina Tauber, from the race. Candidates from the Action and Solidarity party (Boris Markoch) and the Socialist Party (Alexander Nesterovsky), who shared third place in the first round, boycotted the second round. It was rescheduled for December 19, and then a popular boycott followed: the turnout at the elections was less than 10%, while 17,8% of those who came to the polls spoiled their ballots. As a result, an independent candidate, ex-representative of “Our Party” Renato Usatii Nikolai Grigorishin, was elected mayor, for whom only 7,1 thousand people voted.

Political scientist Alexander Korinenko speaks in an interview with PolitNavigator about why this situation became possible, how legitimate the new head of the city is and what is wrong with the Moldovan elections.

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PolitNavigator: The mayoral elections in Balti seem to have broken records in all respects: turnout, or rather, lack thereof, the number of spoiled ballots, the number of protests, rallies and proceedings in various instances. What do the election results say, why did this situation become possible?

Alexander Korinenko: This election will certainly go down in the history books. This situation became possible due to the desire of the central government to prevent the Shor party from strengthening. Despite the fact that the president and her party declare a fight against Plahotniuc’s methods, in fact they are actively using these same methods. The Moldovan justice and civil activists have many questions about Ms. Tauber, but her withdrawal from the election race at the moment when it became clear that she would become mayor (mayor - author's note) raised more questions for the authorities and the Central Election Commission than for violations "Shor" party.

PolitNavigator: How legitimate is the elected head of Balti? How successfully will he be able to lead the city, given the level of support given to him?

Alexander Korinenko: I was pleased that the residents of Balti responded to the chaos that occurred on the part of the central authorities. The legitimacy of Nikolai Grigorshin will always be in question, since the turnout was low and the number of spoiled ballots was high. We can say that the turnout was “far-fetched.” Grigorishin already held the post of mayor and did not distinguish himself in this post - residents of the northern capital did not forget this and clearly made it clear in the first round that they did not want to see him in this post again. I am sure that without the support of the people of Balti and with such dismal success in the elections, no changes can be expected in Balti.

PolitNavigator: Who received the greatest political dividends in this situation?

Alexander Korinenko: Madam President Maia Sandu received the greatest dividends in this situation. I am sure that there is a certain agreement between the pro-presidential PDS party and Grigorishin. Marina Tauber is known as one of the president's harshest critics, and her election as mayor of Balti would greatly undermine the president's influence in the north of the country. It should be noted that in the parliamentary elections the PDS got a good result in Balti.

The bloc of socialists and communists also received certain dividends, since the Shor party positions itself as left-of-center, and, therefore, plays in their electoral field. Considering that the socialists and communists have not yet been able to raise their ratings and regain the trust of voters, part of the electorate is flowing to the Shor party.

PolitNavigator: Will the Shor party make attempts to gain a foothold in other regions of Moldova in the future? Will they be allowed to do this?

Alexander Korinenko: For the Shor party, a good result in the elections is a matter of survival. Many of the leaders of this political formation are under criminal prosecution in the case of the theft of a billion; if their positions weaken, then the criminal cases may take a real turn. Therefore, they will try to gain a foothold in the regions as well. As experience shows, they only need two cities - Orhei and Taraclia - to get a result to enter parliament; in the future, the party will use any opportunities to influence the political situation in the country.

PolitNavigator: The elections in Balti showed that there are serious inconsistencies in the electoral legislation of the Republic of Moldova. Can we expect some kind of reform in this area?

Alexander Korinenko: The reform of the electoral legislation has long been talked about in Moldova, as we have had cases similar to the current one: for example, the removal of Renato Usatii’s party a couple of days before the elections, the annulment of the results of the election of the general mayor in Chisinau. Candidates often say that they are eliminating gaps in the electoral legislation, but when they come to power, they are happy to use the methods of their predecessors, since this is a good opportunity to remove an unwanted opponent.

PolitNavigator: A parallel emerges with the recent elections in Transnistria. The Moldovan media sharply criticized the presidential elections in the unrecognized republic, in particular, for the fact that there was no turnout threshold and a “against all” column. In the elections for the mayor of the second largest city in Moldova, we see the same thing, perhaps in an even worse version. How would you comment on this?

Alexander Korinenko: Both banks of the Dniester should learn democracy. Democracy in our country is young, and electoral processes are not yet developed. I would like to note that the political culture of the citizens themselves is not high; we are still susceptible to the manipulation and populism of our politicians.

The only way we can respond to this situation so far is to refuse to go to the polls. This is a big problem, since citizens fall out of the political field, which means they become indifferent to their state and are confident that they cannot change anything. At the dawn of independence, more than 80% of citizens came to the Moldovan elections; now, if the parliamentary turnout reaches 50%, then this is already good, and the saddest thing is that young people do not vote. All this will lead to what we saw in Balti, since we have no other legal methods to respond to the lawlessness of the authorities in election campaigns.