On Moldovan Politics

Less than one percent of Moldovans approve of their president. Under the Moldovan system the people vote for the parliament, the members of which then vote for the president of the country. For a president to be selected a 60% majority is required. However, since the liberals came to power, the parliament has recently been unable to form a majority of this magnitude, and the current president is simply a placeholder. This president is apparently a Romanian nationalist, who refers to himself as a Romanian, not Moldovan. The major problem here is that most Moldovans actually like having their own country, and do not much like the Romanians whether or not they like Russia. He has also done everything in his power to distance the country from Russia. While I support the idea of Moldova favoring Europeanorientation, over a Russian orientation, the ways he has chosen to do so have been rather abrasive, and destructive to the country’s economy. For example; he refused an invitation to an international parade in Moscow, by essentially calling saying he sooner would have had the Nazis win WWII than the Russians. The Russians responded to his comments by doubling the price they charge Moldova for natural gas. Russia is the main export market for Moldova, any they cannot afford to lose its business. However the president’s actions are seriously damaging relations. Moldovans will have to vote the communist party back into power in order to appease the Russians. The Liberals know this, and are trying to change the constitution so that they cannot be voted out. Their attempts apparently lead Moldovan students to riot, and loot the Government Building. My guide said she thinks the riot was secretly organized by the Romanian government to destabilize Moldova. I’m not sure that I believe this, especially as the pro-Romanian party is currently in power. The ‘communist’ party isn’t as extreme-left as it sounds. In fact, they are more conservative than the Republicans in the U.S. Taxes under both regimes were 13% across the board. The liberals have also been spending more, on things like initiatives to teach the Romanian language to the Russian minority and translate all movies into Moldovan-Romanian (most all Moldovan popular culture is imported from Russia. I actually quite like the music). Because of this, they have actually repealed tax breaks that the ‘communists’ have been giving to small businesses. In reality, the Moldovan communist party is so called because it is the pro-Russia party. Russia was still the USSR when Moldova gained its independence in 1989. At this point they are going to have to continue kissing-up to the Russians to keep from damaging their economy. This east-west contrast can be seen throughout Chisinau. Russian-owned restaurants sport chairs and umbrellas labeled in Cyrillic with the names of Russian beer. While the Ethnic Moldovan own establishments that sport umbrellas in Romanian with the name of the local Moldovan Beer.