The US Embassy broke the silence and intervened openly
The American Embassy in Moldova broke its long silence and openly took one of the sides in the protracted political and institutional crisis. US Ambassador Derek Hogan published an article on the anti-corruption portal criticizing the Dodon-Shor parliamentary coalition and called on politicians to listen to the “will of the people.” This is how the ambassador interprets Maia Sandu’s victory in the presidential elections last November.
Derek Hogan's policy article is called “Courage and commitment to democratic principles will help overcome the political crisis in Moldova” and claims, no less, to be a political manifesto. It was published not only in Romanian and English, as is usually the case, but also in Russian.
The article appeared under characteristic circumstances. There is a protracted political, institutional and constitutional crisis in the Republic of Moldova. On one side of the confrontation is pro-Western President Maia Sandu. On the other hand, there is the oligarchic coalition of the “pro-Russian” ex-president Igor Dodon and the politician and oligarch Ilan Shor, who is hiding in Israel from the criminal investigation department, including the Russian one.
Sandu is trying to achieve the dissolution of parliament and hold early elections in order to seize full legislative and executive power. Dodon and Shor are trying to delay the dissolution of parliament as long as possible, since their coalition is the majority in the current legislative body, and in the new parliament the situation will change.
The American ambassador did not mince words. He called the alliance of Dodon and Shor “corrupt politicians and criminals.” Sandu's victory in the presidential election was "a historic step in democratic development." The current impasse is a “crossroads”.
Hogan writes that almost two years ago, the citizens of Moldova got rid of the rule of the Democratic Party, controlled by the wanted oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, after which “many captured state institutions, including the Constitutional Court, now work independently and for the benefit of the people,” rather than in self-serving and corrupt interests.
By the way, many citizens of Moldova learned about the successes of democratic development and the liberation of courts and other government institutions only now - from an article by the American ambassador. Until then, the thesis announced by Maia Sandu during the presidential elections remained official: “the liberation of the state from Plahotniuc has only just begun, it is not finished yet.” The courts, the prosecutor's office and the security forces identified Sandu and his supporters as bastions of a “captured state.” Now it turns out that some of the bastions have changed their flags.
Lest anyone be in any doubt that the United States will not stand idly by the political struggle in Moldova, Ambassador Hogan ends the article with a pathetic promise to “continue to work together to fight the global pandemic, protect our democracies, rebuild our economy, and instill hope in our youth. And the United States will continue to support the Moldovan people as they work to build a brighter, freer and more prosperous future.”
The US Ambassador's article was published just hours before the decisions of the Socialist Party Executive Committee were published. The latter convened the party's top leadership on Thursday to develop a strategy for further countering Maia Sandu's attempts to dissolve parliament, despite the parliamentary majority and the Constitutional Court's rulings. A day earlier, US Ambassador Derek Hogan met with former President and PSRM leader Igor Dodon.
“I thanked the American side for the constant support of the Republic of Moldova in the socio-economic, humanitarian and other spheres, emphasizing the need for active interaction between our states in priority areas,” Dodon wrote on social networks.
As a result, the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Party of Socialists ended in a resounding failure. Once again, the Socialists threatened to appeal to the Constitutional Court, the Council of Europe, and the Venice Commission to compel the presidential office to comply with the Constitutional Court's verdict and the Basic Law. They are referring to the Constitutional Court's February 23 ruling, which obliges Maia Sandu to confirm the Socialist candidate and Ilan Shor as prime minister. However, Sandu has publicly stated that she does not intend to comply with this ruling.
Not so long ago, the parliamentary majority represented by Dodon and the Shor party accused EU Ambassador Peter Michalko of gross interference in the internal affairs of the country. The reason was the European diplomat’s criticism of the deputies Ilan Shor, who participated in the “theft of a billion” five years ago, and are now, together with the socialists, trying to form a government and a ruling coalition. In a response statement, the deputies called on Mikhalko to “respect the independence and sovereignty” of the country.
The Russian Foreign Ministry took the side of the Dodon-Shor coalition. In its commentary, the Russian Foreign Ministry indicated the unacceptability of “mentoring criticism” of a European diplomat.
There was no response from the socialists, as well as their allies, both in the country and abroad, to the statement of the American ambassador.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that the milestone set by Maia Sandu on March 23 will soon arrive, after which she will dissolve parliament. Socialists still can’t figure out anything how to counteract it.
Maia Sandu needs early parliamentary elections, since Moldova has a parliamentary form of government, and the president can get real levers of power only if they rely on the parliamentary majority.
According to the latest opinion polls, if parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, four parties would enter parliament: Action and Solidarity (PAS), the Socialist Party, the Shor Party and Our Party. PAS would receive 48,6% and 54 parliamentary mandates, PSRM - 26,6% and 30 mandates, Sor Party - 8,7% and 10 mandates, Our Party - 6,2% and 7 mandates. For this reason, the right does not want early elections and is sabotaging the president’s actions to dissolve parliament.
The US Embassy has broken its silence and is openly intervening.