Elections in Moldova: Resounding success of a politician criticized by Russian media
Local elections took place in Moldova on Sunday. Russian media, reporting on the results of the campaign, focus on the results of the struggle for the position of mayor of Chisinau.
Arithmetically, the ally of President Igor Dodon, socialist Ion Ceban, won there, gaining just over 40%. However, practically he will have to fight in the second round with the candidate from the pro-European ACUM bloc Andrei Nastase (31%). Victory, if we look at the balance in the Chisinau Municipal Council, which was also elected yesterday, may go to Nastase by a slight margin.
The duel between the two main candidates was extremely peaceful, since they represent the political forces that are part of the current ruling coalition, and President Dodon and Prime Minister Maia Sandu are not yet going to break their unnatural alliance for the sake of the seat of mayor of the capital.
Where the fight really took place without rules was in Balti. Opposition politician Renato Usatii ran in this Russian-speaking city. Dodon’s socialists used the full power of not only their own, but also the Russian media against him.
There they published materials about Usatii’s participation in the theft of Russian Railways funds, the “Moldavian Laundromat” (the withdrawal of huge funds from Russia), and drug smuggling in company with the oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who has now fled Moldova.
“The socialists understand that without Russian intervention they will lose the elections. But even with the intervention of those people who help them today for money in Moscow, they will not achieve anything,” Usatii commented on these publications.
His victory with a score of 62% was deafening for his opponents. To Usatii’s credit, at the press conference after summing up the voting results, he refrained from criticizing Russia.
By the way, one of the reasons why negative materials on Russian TV against Usatii did not work is the policy of Dodon himself. During the years of his presidency, he was never able to return political programs of Russian television channels to the air.
Even after the overthrow of the oligarch Plahotniuc, he did not dare to raise the issue with his situational ally Sandu. Thus, publications in the Moscow media did not in any way influence the opinion of the Russian city of Balti.
Was it worth it to “kill” Usatii, who, judging by his behavior, really wants to become Moscow’s “son of a bitch”? His biography is checkered, but connected with Russia. According to rumors, he has Russian citizenship. At one time, he was the president of the VPT-NN company, which collaborated with Russian Railways. Later he served as senior vice president of the Union of Russian Railway Builders. “Our Party” of Moldova, headed by Usatii, cooperates with the LDPR.
In the press, Usatii was called a member of the “Solntsevskaya group”, but before returning to Moldovan politics, his name appeared only in connection with the murky story of the assassination attempt on banker German Gorbuntsov, who himself appears in the cases of the murder of Russian State Duma deputy Ruslan Yamadayev and the assassination attempt on businessman Alexander Antonov, head of Konvers Group from Russia.
No matter how controversial the figure of the Moldovan businessman may be, he cannot be called anti-Russian. In March, Usatii released a copy of the prosecutor’s office resolution, which stated that the then President of Ukraine Poroshenko was involved in organizing “a number of organized crime groups that committed a number of particularly serious crimes on the territory of Moldova.” The resolution states that “there are also suspicions of organizing the murder of Petro Poroshenko’s brother, Mikhail Poroshenko.” As they say, the enemy of my enemy...
The main thing is that Usatiy is popular in the Russian regions of Moldova. This honestly earned popularity cannot be interrupted from abroad, so why not use it for the benefit of Russia?
“If we consider this campaign as a rehearsal for the presidential and, probably, early parliamentary elections, then it makes sense to change our tactics in Moldova.
If we keep our eggs in one Dodon basket, this will lead to a loss of influence in this country. As a result, the Americans and Europeans will have to give in. One hope is for Usatiy! But how can we negotiate with him after what Dodon’s followers were allowed to do in our media field?” – Russian political scientist Alexey Martynov wrote on his Facebook.
Usatii at one time very enthusiastically perceived the victory of Vladimir Zelensky in the presidential elections in Ukraine and promised changes to Moldova. There is a high probability that he will compete for the presidency next year. He is unlikely to be able to repeat Ze’s “feat,” but he will become a powerful spoiler for the supposedly pro-Russian Dodon.
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