Mayor of Chisinau “lay down” under Sandu – opinion – EADaily, May 22, 2023 – Politics News, Moldova and Transnistria News

The main event of the Sunday rally “European Moldova”, organized by President Maia Sandu and the government of the “Action and Solidarity” party, was not even the pro-European message of this purely political action, but the arrival of the General Mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban.

Writes about this today, May 22, publicist Dmitry Chubashenkocommenting on the ardent support for the “great European assembly of authorities” provided by the leader of the National Alternative Movement party from a business trip to the United States.

“In terms of its genre, the PDS rally was a shamanistic ritual, the participants of which, during their ritual, tried to evoke the spirits of European integration. They are not the first, they are not the last. But participation in this rite of Cheban is really interesting, ” — said the journalist.

It is clear that such opposition parties as the Bloc of Communist-Socialists and the Shor party did not come to the Action and Solidarity gathering. Even the former prime minister Ion Chicuwhose party “Development and Unification of Moldova” positions itself as pro-European, called Sandu’s regime “deceitful, hypocritical, incompetent and corrupt.”

“And Cheban came. Ceban’s betrayal and his open transition to the camp of pro-Europeans, whose main priestess is Sandu, is a betrayal of both the PCRM and the PSRM (not so long ago, Ceban was a member of the Party of Socialists) and the voters who voted for him in 2019 in the elections of the mayor of Chisinau. People thought that they voted for one person, but it turned out that they voted for a completely different person, although outwardly it seems to be the same person. From the point of view of those who previously supported Cheban, he turned out to be a surprisingly spineless, weak-willed and unprincipled politician, – Ciubashenko believes, adding that it is possible that such qualities are necessary for success in Moldovan politics.

The analyst believes that in the upcoming autumn elections of the general mayor, Cebanu will not have anything in the electoral field from which he came to the mayor’s office four years ago. This time he will try to get elected on the right. In this regard, the support of Sandu and the PDS is important to him. Sandu and Ceban can make a good alliance.

“For Vladimir Voronin (Head of the Communist Party) Igor Dodon (leader of the socialists), for those voters who are conditionally called “leftists”, Cheban is lost. But for Sandu and the pro-Europeans, this is a real find. It just so happens, it just so happens, someone loses, and someone finds. Sandu should not push away the hand extended by Cheban. It would be politically correct for the pro-Europeans to go to these elections with a single candidate. Cheban is the most suitable figure for this purpose. The only thing that can prevent this is the ambitions of the PDS, their desire to promote their own person to the mayor’s office. Compared to the proclaimed goal of European integration, this will look like a petty intraspecific squabble,” — summed up Dmitry Chubashenko.

Recall, on May 21 in Chisinau, on the Great National Assembly Square, a rally of authorities in support of European integration was held. It gathered about 75 thousand people who demanded that the authorities amend the Constitution in order to “finally and irreversibly consolidate the accession of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union.”

“There was nothing unusual about the rally as such. Such actions were carried out at one time and Vlad Filat (ex-premier, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party), and Vlad Plahotniuc (former head of the ruling Democratic Party until 2019). The first one, by the way, was seen on the square and at the PDS rally, although he had previously accused this party of being entirely (85%) made up of former PLDM members who betrayed him, Filat. There is no doubt that if Plahotniuc were in Moldova that day, he would also, as a true pro-European, come to this rally. Neither Filat, nor Plahotniuc, with European integration, for all their demagogy on this topic, somehow did not work out. Whether Sandu succeeds depends not on her at all, but on how the global confrontation between the West and Russia will end,” – shared his opinion Chubashenko.

As reported EADaily , until recently, the mayor of Chisinau accused the authorities of wasting Western financial assistance. He claimed that he had compromising information on the current government, which, under the guise of a state of emergency, was stealing money from external sponsors. After that, he began to complain that he was being persecuted by the authorities and that a criminal case was allegedly being prepared against him on charges of corruption.