The failure of Dodon's plan. Who will Sandu cheat?
Moldovan President Igor Dodon’s plan to stay in power after losing the elections is a resounding failure.
The idea was that in a parliamentary republic, the new pro-Western President Maia Sandu, without controlling parliament, would find herself in the position of the Queen of England. Dodon himself remained in this status for the first years of his presidency. The parliamentary coalition and the government, under the influence of the “master of Moldova”, the criminal oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, ignored the president, and sometimes even removed him from power for a couple of days in order to carry out the necessary decisions, mostly directed against Russia.
“Dodon will take power out of the presidency. I am sure that he will move the decision-making center. Sandu will be blocked in the presidential office. The government from which the Democrats emerged is under the control of the Socialists, the security bloc is similar. There are a number of deputies in parliament who do not want to part with their mandates, because they certainly will not be able to get them into the next parliament, so they will be ready to make a deal and vote for everything that the socialists offer them. In addition, Dodon’s supporters retain the very important post of chairman of parliament, which is practically impossible to take away from them in this convocation of parliament,” wrote journalist Alexander Korinenko, who sympathizes with Dodon, in his Telegram channel, hot on the heels of the elections.
Dodon immediately announced the start of consultations regarding the formation of a new coalition in parliament (the old one with the participation of the Democratic Party collapsed before the elections). But disappointment awaited him. Both former democratic partners refused to form an alliance with the socialists against Sandu (US Ambassador to Chisinau Derek Hogan once again had a confidential conversation with their leader Pavel Filip), and the pro-Western party “Dignity and Truth”, although offended by the new president, did not want to compromise principles.
Dodon tried to put on a good face despite a bad game.
“I didn't expect anyone to come. I wanted to see what their movements would be like. They didn’t even realize that they themselves had fallen into a trap,” he said.
In fact, the former president is trapped. He has to be content with the status of leader of the Socialist Party. She has the largest faction in parliament, but what good is it if everyone else swears allegiance to Sandu and votes for the government she proposes?
“About Dodona. We don't teach. Didn't he realize that no one but socialists would consult a losing president? Dodon has become an extra link in this food chain of the “Moldavian political elite.” If there is a need to hold consultations, they will hold each other. After Putin, without waiting for the official election results, congratulated Sandu, it became clear to everyone that even Russia excluded him from the list of politicians who “must be taken into account,” Russophobe political scientist Vitaly Andrievsky gloated.
However, it is not a fact that the “everyone is against Dodon” scenario will be realized. The elected president boasts of her political purity and has repeatedly stated that she will not deal with oligarchic groups. And in the current parliament, almost all “free” deputies were either connected at one time with Plahotniuc, or are still connected with another criminal oligarch - the husband of singer Jasmine, Ilan Shor, who fled to Israel.
Before the elections, Sandu threatened to disperse parliament, but it is difficult to practically implement this plan under Moldovan legislation. Democrat Philip proposes to wait another year for new elections: there is little hope for his party in the next ones, but for now “Iron Maya” can change her anger to mercy and throw a couple of seats in the government.
But if Sandu is seduced by the crafty games of the democrats, she will make an enemy in the person of the scandalous politician Renato Usatii. For her sake, before the second round, he betrayed his pro-Russian electorate (almost 17%) in the hope of getting a solid faction in the new parliament. Usatii's fans are naively confident that Sandu should now offer him the prime minister's chair.
“Philip suggests that Sandu “dump” Usatii and not dissolve parliament. Pavel Filip seriously worked for the candidate’s victory from within the government. Sandu has a serious dilemma. She must decide who to throw: Usatii or Filip?,” wrote socialist MP Bogdan Tsydrya in a telegram channel.
However, it will not be Sandu who will decide, but her Western patrons. They campaigned without hesitation for their candidate before the elections. Her victory is their victory, and they will not miss it.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.