PARTIES OF IURIE LEANCA AND RENATO USATII MAINTAIN LEAD IN POPULARITY RATING – NDI

The European People’s Party of Moldova (EPPM), which its founder and leader Iurie Leanca is yet only shaping, preparing it for registration, and the party of businessman-turned-politician Renato Usatii are topping the list of voters’ political preferences, as per the opinion poll carried out by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) of the United States on March 1-26 among 1,500 residents of various-type populated areas across Moldova. The pollsters are saying that error should not exceed ±2.5%.

The Democratic Institute makes such opinion polls regularly and their findings are not generally intended for broad public. However, they are provided to the leaders of main political parties for “internal use”. This time, the NDI results were published by www.deschide.md.

The research established that if elections were held next Sunday, the Patria Party of Renato Usatii would receive 13% ballots, the EPPM – 12%, the Party of Socialists of Igor Dodon – 12%, the Communist Party of Vladimir Voronin – 11%, and the Liberal Party of Mihai Ghimpu – 9%.

At the bottom of the rating are the Democratic Party of de-facto leader Vlad Plahotniuc with 8% and the Liberal Democratic Party of Vlad Filat with 7%.

It is noteworthy that the opinion poll used the name of the Patria Party, whose list of candidates at the November 30, 2014 parliamentary elections was headed by Renato Usatii, but that organization was deregistered from the list of runners 3 days before the election day. About three months later, in early March, Renato Usatii registered another organization, Partidul Nostru [Our Party].

As for citizens’ trust in political parties, Leanca’s new party runs ahead of everybody as well: it is trusted by 37% interviewed people. However, the proportion of mistrust in it is also impressively high – 33%. Yet this is better than the citizens’ attitude to all the rest organizations, which more people mistrust than trust.

For instance, the Patria Party is trusted by 32% respondents, but mistrusted by 50%. The Party of Socialists – 32% and 51%, respectively; the Communist Party – 31% and 50%, the Liberal Party – 28% and 54%, the Democratic Party – 26% and 53%, the Liberal Democratic Party – 26% and 56%.

Asked whom you would elect as your President, if the Moldovan people were permitted to elect their leader themselves, 16% replied – Iurie Leanca, 14% – Renato Usatii, 11% – Igor Dodon.

Following next is Vladimir Voronin with 9%, then Marian Lupu and Dorin Chirtoaca – 7% each, Vlad Filat and Mihai Ghimpu – 4% each, ex-Speaker Igor Corman and foreign minister Natalia Gherman – 2% each, and incumbent President Nicolae Timofti – 1%.

The rating of trust by voters is also topped by Iurie Leanca who enjoys the trust of 52% interviewed citizens. Next go Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca with 51% and Natalia Gherman with 39%.

The highest ‘anti-rating’ is with the First Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party, MP Vlad Plahotniuc, with 71% Moldovans not trusting him. Next follows LDPM leader Vlad Filat – with 60% mistrust, and President Nicolae Timofti – with 57%.