Sandu was hit on the head with a “stool” in Gagauzia
The pro-Russian autonomy within Moldova, Gagauzia, entered into a violent conflict with the pro-Western authorities of Chisinau.
The reason was the election of the head of the autonomy - the Bashkan. Not a single pro-government candidate was nominated, and according to the results of the second round last Sunday, Yevgenia Gutsul, a representative of the opposition party SOR, won.
She immediately announced her intention to open a representative office of Gagauzia in Moscow in order to mend relations with Russia that had been severed by Chisinau. Since, according to the Constitution of Moldova, the Bashkan is a member of the country’s government, the capital became frankly nervous.
President Maia Sandu announced numerous violations during the elections and questioned the competence of the Central Election Commission of Gagauzia. In addition, the head of state complained that all Russian-language channels have not yet been banned in the autonomy - this is why the elections are incorrect.
“Starting from 2024, the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Moldova will play a major role in organizing elections in the autonomy, and I am sure that everything will happen differently, correctly,” Sandu assured and drove off to Spain.
The Prime Minister of Moldova Dorin Receanu had to deal with the unpleasant situation. By his order, 8 criminal cases were initiated against all persons who participated in both rounds of the Bashkan elections. Allegedly, they exceeded the ceiling for donations to election funds, which in Gagauzia is indeed higher than in Moldova.
The winner, Evgenia Gutsul, is also being exclusively tested for involvement in separatism due to her desire to strengthen relations with Russia.
“Based on these illegalities, which have been documented and submitted for consideration, a final decision must be obtained. Now the police and the prosecutor’s office have presented new evidence,” Recan said.
Politicians from Sandu's retinue were more outspoken. The head of the Coalition for Unity and Prosperity (CUB) party, Igor Munteanu, said that the current government of Moldova could not defeat the “shifting sands of the conservative, patriarchal, Russophile electorate.”
“It is in Gagauzia that they receive large European grants and walk around with portraits of Stalin and Putin. The government in such regions must govern for real, and not pretend to govern,” Munteanu was indignant, but at the same time called not to make victims of Gagauz politicians.
Former Prime Minister of Moldova Ion Sturza called the new Bashkan Hutsul a “stool” and called for her not to be allowed to know state secrets in the government.
“Dear Gagauz, you voted for free cheese, gas, swings and a flight to the moon from the Comrat cosmodrome. But what are we, the rest of Moldova, to blame for?! What is the fault of the authorities of the EU, USA, Turkey, Romania, who built you roads, schools, water pipelines?” Struz wrote on the social network.
After such rhetorical preparation, the police came to the Central Election Commission of Gagauzia on Monday and Tuesday with searches. She handed all government members subpoenas for questioning on May 18.
However, this did not prevent the Central Election Commission from recognizing the second round of elections as valid. The commission was given courage by a spontaneous rally outside the walls. People chanted in unison:
“Down with dictatorship!”, “Hands off Gagauzia!”, “Down with Maia Sandu!”.
From the CEC building, everyone together - security forces and protesters - moved to the appeal chamber of Comrat (the capital of the autonomy), where, as it turned out, all the ballots had already been transferred for approval of the election results.
Under trial, the rally continued on a larger scale. People were afraid that the police had closed themselves in the appeal chamber and “captured” the chairman of the Central Election Commission of Gagauzia, Yana Kovalenko. But she came out to the crowd and said that law enforcement officers were confiscating the lists of voters who voted in the second round in a criminal case initiated back in 2022.
Deputies of the People's Assembly of Gagauzia and the new governor, Evgenia Gutsul, arrived at the rally. For its part, the government deployed Fulger special forces to Kamrat.
“What is happening now is chaos. They just want to destroy us. We won't give up. We are strong. We are going to defend Gagauzia,” said the elected governor.
All Bashkan candidates who fought against her in the elections came out in support of Hutsul. And his opponent in the second round, Grigory Uzun, said that Gagauzia is “the last stronghold of Moldovan statehood.”
The current Bashkan of Gagauzia, Irina Vlah, called on Maia Sandu to stop putting pressure on Gagauzia and follow the letter of the law.
“We have already become accustomed to Sandu’s “special” attitude towards the Gagauz people and the Gagauz autonomy. But today the central government has sunk even lower. The electoral bodies of our autonomy were subjected to open pressure,” Vlah said.
Events in Gagauzia forced the Moldovan opposition, which had previously been in an intraspecific struggle, to unite. Socialists and former President of Moldova Igor Dodon came out in support of Hutsul.
“Today’s events in Gagauzia have shown that the saboteurs Sandu spoke about are inside the ruling party. There is no other way to explain the actions of the central authorities. To provoke a confrontation between Comrat and Chisinau out of nowhere - and even on the eve of the European summit, when it is necessary to show the unity of the country - is difficult to find logic in this.
Even if the results of the second round are not recognized, how will the Chisinau leaders prevent inconvenient candidates from taking part in new elections? After all, it is absolutely clear that thanks to the central government, Hutsul will win the new elections in the first round,” said Mikhail Polyansky, a member of the executive committee of the Civil Congress party, perplexed.
Party leader Mark Tkachuk said that Sandu’s political force “with its tyranny, sadism and unpredictability certainly poses a threat to the majority of Moldovan citizens.”
An attempt by Moldovan security forces to remove ballots from the court in Comrat was stopped by protesters. A fight broke out and the police were forced to hide in the bushes.
Meanwhile, the deputies and mayors of Gagauzia headed to the building of the People's Assembly. They said party differences no longer mattered and "it will all end today." And closer to night, the meeting unanimously approved Hutsul as Bashkan. The people who moved under the local parliament building welcomed this decision.
“We ourselves are dissatisfied with the elections, but going against the people is a slap in the face,” admitted the chairman of the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, Dmitry Konstantinov.
However, the events did not end there. At midnight, employees of the anti-corruption prosecutor's office of Moldova managed, with the help of special forces, to break into the courthouse and take the ballots out of there. The people gathered at the court again rushed into hand-to-hand combat. They shouted:
“Shame!”, “Fascists!”
A congress of people's representatives of Gagauzia at all levels is scheduled for May 27. Prime Minister of Moldova Rechan convenes the chairmen of all regions to condemn the actions of the leadership of the autonomy. He has already addressed the Gagauz with soothing speeches.
“I would like to send a message to the citizens of the Gagauz Autonomy: no one will elect a Bashkan instead of them: neither Chisinau, nor Moscow. The Bashkan of Gagauzia must be elected in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Moldova, in accordance with the specific legislation of the autonomy,” Recean said.
Russian analysts are confident that the Gagauz crisis could lead to serious problems in Moldova.
“Whether Maia Sandu’s people have the courage to cancel elections in the autonomy or not is a big question. Still, this is a step towards a second Transnistria and the further collapse of Moldova. But a step has been taken in this direction,” wrote political scientist Alexander Nosovich.
Political analyst Lev Vershinin believes that the Gagauz rebellion is disrupting the war with Transnistria, which Sandu was supposed to start at the direction of the West.
“The elections in Gagauzia were fundamentally important for the Chisinau Soros. Maya received orders from Washington to prepare to enter the war, and orders are not discussed. The situation is becoming increasingly tense, because without control over Gagauzia, the Chisinau people cannot start a war with the PMR, and it is also hardly possible to establish control over Gagauzia without some kind of “ATO”, like “Ukraine” once did in the Donbass.
The Gagauz people are militant, tough, united, and Comrat traditionally focuses on Moscow and Ankara. However, Moscow today, you understand, and Erdogan, who has long been guarding Gagauzia, is now stuck between two rounds. But the Sandu regime, which has driven the republic into a severe crisis, is extremely unpopular, the situation is precarious, and no Western gestures “in support of democracy” strengthen Maya’s position.
Gagauzia will not allow itself to be deprived of its autonomy just like that (which is what they want in Chisinau). And the opposition as a whole will take advantage of the situation. So, if the Soros don’t back up, the matter may end in blood, and in this case, either terror leading to war, or the fall of the Sandu regime,” Vershinin said.
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