Moldova: Protest leaders meet, plan next steps against oligarch regime

The protest leaders announced that they had invited the Chairman of Parliament Andrian Candu to the Civic Forum, where they are ready to hear the position of the authorities.

Source

January 29: Organizers of the Civic Forum and protests in Chisinau will present their conclusions and further plans of action on Wednesday, February 3.

This was stated by Chairman of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT), one of the forum moderators, Igor Botan.

“A number of interesting proposals were made for further action. All proposals will be reviewed and analysed to determine a specific plan of action. In the framework of the forum, it was proposed to increase pressure on the authorities to achieve early parliamentary elections. We need a couple of days to discuss all the proposals and make a decision, after which we will report on further actions,” said Botan, noting that” opinions were divided, and therefore we need to discuss all the proposals presented.”

Chairman of the “Dignity and Truth” (DA) Platform Andrei Nastase said that “it is important not to let the authorities who began this game find a way out.”

“We must meet and negotiate not only with civil society, but also development partners, then results will be seen,” said Nastase.

One of the leaders of the Platform, Valentin Dolganyuk, urged the meeting to “intensify protests to increase pressure and stand up to the end.”

“No compromises, no dialogue with the slaves of oligarch Plahotniuc. We have been protesting peacefully for a year, but they ignored us. Enough! The people are tired of tolerating these abuses. And we cannot betray the interests of the hundreds of thousands of people who came to the protests. We must insist on this! Only early elections! Only if this requirement is fulfilled can we negotiate. They only need to determine the order of the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of free and democratic elections! There is no need to discuss anything else!” declared Dolganyuk.

Chairman of the Party of Socialists (PSRM) Igor Dodon asked the forum participants to “put your proposals and demands down on paper to be presented to the authorities.”

“Next week we will talk with the protest organizers about further actions and campaigns, about which institutions will be picketed. In any case, the protests will continue, but we must define the forms and methods of increasing pressure.

“This government, this regime, is not legitimate. It is necessary to ensure that foreign partners do not support this government. If they do not provide funding, then the government will quickly begin dialogue and make concessions,” said Dodon.

Translated by Greg Butterfield