​MAIA SANDU IS UNDESIRABLE FOR AEI-3, DEMOCRATS SAY

For the Democratic Party, the candidacy of Acting Minister of Education Maia Sandu for the prime ministerial post is unacceptable because “there are no levers to influence on her”, and because “she enjoys the West’s support”, a source in the DP leadership said to Infotag on Friday afternoon.

“Maia Sandu is a real trap not only for the DP but also for the Liberal Party, which, to put it honestly, has come back into power for the only purpose – to steal, whereas Sandu is an extremely principal person, and she will be slapping them on their hands all the time”, said the source.

“There is nothing to blackmail her with. What can you tell her? That she is not married? Let’s put it straight: our politicians are not accustomed to dealing with such kind of people. Besides this, the United States and the European Union believe that Maia Sandu is a type of premier that is able to shoulder responsibility for implementing important reforms. Yes her premiership would impart a certain stimulus and a better image for Moldova, would let defrost international financing of the country, but she is ungovernable and independent! And she will be saying what she thinks”, explained the Democrat.

In his words, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI-3) is quite reluctant to having Maia Sandu as a premier because for some politicians this would mean that they will lose their habitual influence on ministries and other state institutions, and “therefore, it would be better to have LDPM Deputy Chairman Valeriu Strelet on the prime ministerial post in the present-day situation in the country”.

“I don't know what about the Liberal Party. But for the Democratic Party, Valeriu Strelet is a suitable person. However, he would not be recognized by our foreign donors and partners. In this situation, there may be two ways out: our development partners from the United States and the European Union will be pressing on the AEI-3 to eventually have Maia Sandu appointed to the post, or stakeholders will be marking time, waiting for a discrediting evidence against her or a happy situation for saying ‘no’ to her, with subsequent appointment of Valeriu Strelet to the post. The Liberal Democratic Party is at the crossroads: Sandu is very original, but is loved by the right-wing electorate, while Strelet is tractable but unpopular”, said the source.

In his words, the Democratic Party has been in a very delicate situation due to the absence of a prime minister, and a possible alliance with the Moldovan Communist Party (MCP) would be more advantageous, but the Democrats are not at all sure that in a tandem with the MCP there will be ballots enough for governing the country and for appointing a government [given that DP+MCP have a total of 40 MPs in the 101-member Parliament].

“There is a probability that in the nearest future the representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and of international organizations will join the negotiations. This is extra evidence that Maia Sandu is backed by the West. If this hadn’t been so, the premiership question would have been solved many days ago”, said the Infotag’s source.

As already reported by Infotag, Democratic Party leader Marian Lupu stated on Thursday night that the LDPM’s candidate for premiership is Maia Sandu. Shortly after that, the news was confirmed by LDPM leader Vlad Filat himself. On Friday, the three party leaders gathered in the DP office in Chisinau to finally solve the prime minister question, but the meeting ended without a result. As Infotag has come to know, Maia Sandu put forward several serious preconditions. She is insisting not only on dismissing President of the National Bank of Moldova Dorin Dragutanu and Prosecutor General Corneliu Gurin, but is demanding also to have the right to form Government all by herself, which would be approved in the Parliament by the votes of the AEI deputies.