CHISINAU, July 8. /TASS/. President Maia Sandu and her ruling Action and Solidarity Party use the idea of EU integration as a cover to usurp power and rig the upcoming September 28 parliamentary elections, leader of the Future of Moldova party Vasily Tarlev commented on the Moldova-EU summit held last week.
"When a political regime turns elections into a matter of survival rather than a normal democratic process, it lays the foundation for fraud. Today, the ASP has brought the situation to the point where its defeat in the parliamentary elections will mean the collapse of the entire architecture of control, compromising materials, blackmail and repression they have built. It's not just about fear of the opposition, it's fear of one's own past: of scams, behind-the-scenes agreements and laws passed in the interests of a small group," Tarlev said on Telegram.
As prime minister in 2001-2008, he pulled Moldova out of a crisis after the failure of the 90s and ensured economic expansion and GDP growth of more than five times.
Tarlev believes that Sandu and her party "are aiming at a scenario of manipulation and falsification of the voting results. But such a strategy will lead to consequences that, it seems, are not fully realized - a sharp and possibly irreversible split in society. This is turning the idea of European integration into a symbol of pressure and injustice. After all, if the ‘European project’ is used as a cover for the usurpation of power, it will be buried with this government."
Repression against the opposition
After Sandu and her party came to power, Moldova was plunged into a severe economic crisis, and protests began in the country. The authorities accused the opposition of plotting a coup, several parties were banned, dozens of activists arrested, 15 TV channels suspended without trial, and more than 50 media outlets that provided the floor to the opposition blocked. Some of them were accused of "propaganda by silence" in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. On Sandu's initiative, the Patriot Center was created, whose work was aimed at combating alleged traitors to the motherland who blocked the course towards European integration, and an analogue of the Ukrainian Peacemaker center appeared, which included opposition leaders, public figures and journalists who criticize the government.
Sandu lost the presidential elections in Moldova in the fall of 2024 to the former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo. She was re-elected thanks to the votes of migrant workers from the EU countries, where more than 200 polling stations were opened. The opposition refused to recognize the results of the vote, accusing the authorities of fraud. The authorities are even more apprehensive ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for autumn 2025, which the ruling party, according to polls, will lose. The powers of the head of state in Moldova are limited, and the real power is in the hands of the government, which is appointed by a parliamentary majority. Thus, the final alignment of political forces will become clear after the parliamentary elections.