"Washington Regional Committee" took control of the presidential elections in Moldova
Who will head the Chisinau presidency? This strongly depends on the geopolitical choice of the voters. The main favorites – Igor Dodon and Maia Sandu – are playing the role of a “pro-Russian” and “pro-European” candidate, respectively. But there is another player who considers himself above all this. And used to making rules.
“He is an oligarch, but he is our oligarch”
Four years ago, the interest of the US diplomatic mission and the US State Department in the presidential elections was not as significant as it is now. Then it was clear to everyone that no matter how the race ended, they would have to deal with the head of the unpopular but influential Democratic Party - oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who controlled the parliament, government, courts, law enforcement agencies, banks, local authorities, television channels...
He could give a sufficiently comprehensive guarantee that a conditional “corn Maidan” would not form in Chisinau. In the end, the unrest was not beneficial to him personally. And for this, the all-powerful politician-businessman could ensure that very “constancy of the political course.”
Through his media holding, Plahotniuc broadcast something about the “fourth way.” Like, someone wants to be with Russia, someone with Europe, and someone specifically with Romania, but Plahotniuc and his party are simply for Moldova. However, internationally his rhetoric has varied greatly.
Plahotniuc’s main “foreign” speeches are about how he personally guarantees something like a “bastion free from Russian influence.” Both he himself and his inner circle never tired of repeating horror stories about “Russian tanks”, about missiles on the Dniester, about the totalitarian Soviet past and even the future. For a politician who claims to be called a “centrist” and even a “left-of-center”, a member of the international Socialist International, this was quite harsh.
Typically, the high-ranking American side did not skimp on rotating statements and even articles from its Moldovan partner. Articles written (not personally, probably, but still) and signed by Plahotniuc were published in American newspapers and magazines, mainly those close to the American Democratic Party.
And all this - at the same time that American diplomats never tired of teaching Moldovan politicians how important democracy, transparency, fair justice, etc. are. Yes, Moldovans associated Plahotniuc with the opposite – with corruption, raiding and the seizure of state institutions. That is, for the United States he became such a Moldovan Somoza or Pinochet - “yes, a son of a bitch, but our son of a bitch.”
There were rumors that this process also had other pitfalls. For example, the former US Ambassador to Moldova, Asif Chaudhry, soon after completing his mission received a lucrative position in one of the business structures close to Plahotniuc. And the former special representative of the European Union (also very pro-American, even by European standards) Dirk Schuebel was allegedly nicknamed “Lemon” on the Moldovan sidelines, because Plahotniuc “limonized” him and seduced him with a round sum...
New Times
Plahotniuc left the country in 2019. The media colorfully described how he “collected money” immediately after meeting with the new American ambassador. However, something else is also true - the attempts of the democrats to usurp power even after defeat in the parliamentary elections caused a sharp rejection of European and especially Russian diplomacy. And we shouldn’t forget that the current US Ambassador Derek Hogan is a creature of the “new team” of Republican President Donald Trump.
Nevertheless, the aggressive, “hard-headed” course of the United States towards the “Moldavian reservation” has not gone away. “Republican” Hogan is reliably “surrounded” by many political consultants inherited from the Barack Obama administration.
Sources note that the new reformatting of the ruling coalition in favor of the alliance of Igor Dodon’s socialists with the remaining democrats did not take place without the influence of the “hand of Washington.” And the point is not only that the Russian side was suspicious of the unpopular return of the Democrats to power, even if only partial, among Moldovan voters.
Right-wing parties could well organize a new series of protests. But - this is how they always differed - they do not show initiative without a go-ahead. The Washington Regional Committee did not give the go-ahead. Because I received certain guarantees.
In addition to the fact that the Democrats have received a number of prominent positions in the Cabinet, their task is to continue the course of reforms announced by the previous government. Rumor has it that one of the important conditions on the American side was the removal from the cabinet of Deputy Prime Minister for the Transnistrian issue Vasily Shova and Defense Minister Viktor Gaichuk - both were too obvious supporters of maintaining peace on the Dniester (and Shova, among other things, maintains too good relations with Transnistrian diplomats).
Sources also note that the candidacy of the new “Deputy Prime Minister for Transnistria” Alexander Flenka was agreed directly with the US State Department. Outwardly an equidistant career diplomat, in reality he is the creation of the diplomat of the previous generation, Ion Stavila. In the “zero” Stavila worked in the “communist” government as the deputy of the same Sova and actually played the role of an American spy (this role was calmly provided to him by the “communist” President Voronin). Today, his protégé serves a similar role.
The pro-American candidate Maia Sand could only bite her elbows. And even now, when she has a chance to head the presidency herself, she has to act with caution. First of all, on the election results... in the United States itself. Democrat Joe Biden's victory automatically boosts its stock.
If Sandu wins, the Americans will get the most obedient president imaginable. People who remember her as an employee of the World Bank office are unequivocal in their judgments - she is just a lackey in a skirt, not only not bargaining, but also ready, on her personal initiative, to give up all Moldovan interests, just to show herself more loyal to the American “Big Brother”. As Minister of Education and Prime Minister, she fully justified these reviews.
Another question is how much Washington is ready to bet on Sanda if she does concede in the election race. Biden’s subordinates will probably be more aggressive, and if Trump’s “domestic market-oriented” team strengthens in power... they may be happy with a compromise. But, of course, under certain conditions.
Chisinau knows very well that it will be threatened with mass protests, economic and political pressure, and general destabilization if the winner of the election race does not give guarantees. Plahotniuc is no more, the president will have to give guarantees.
Such a big country and such petty blackmail...
The Washington Regional Committee took control of the presidential elections in Moldova.