Translated material
Pointed stone
Moldova is moving from “occupation” to confrontation
The scandalous decree of the acting President of Moldova, Speaker of Parliament Mihai Ghimpu, declaring June 28 “the day of Soviet occupation” should be the subject of consideration at today’s special meeting of Parliament. Most likely, the document will not be approved. However, due to the surge in political passions, the meeting itself, at which it was also planned to consider the report of the presidential commission to study the consequences of the “totalitarian regime” in Moldova, may not take place.Some points of the not yet approved decree are already being implemented. In Chisinau, where the mayor is Dorin Chirtoaca, the vice-chairman of the Liberal Party and Ghimpu’s nephew, on Sunday morning, a one-and-a-half-meter memorial stone “In memory of the victims of the Soviet occupation and totalitarian regime” was installed on the central square of the capital. This was the order of the mayor. The installation of the monument went unnoticed by the residents of Chisinau, since on Saturday the oath ceremony for recruits of the national army was held there and the square was blocked off. Initially, it was planned to install the stone today, but then the process was accelerated, since events were planned in the capital on Monday to mark the “day of Soviet occupation.”
On June 28, 1940, after an ultimatum presented to the USSR, Romania withdrew its troops and administration from Bessarabia. On August 2, 1940, the Moldavian SSR was formed on this territory, which included six Bessarabian counties and six regions of Transnistria. “There is no doubt that the day of June 28, 1940, when Soviet troops entered Bessarabia, is a black date in the history of Moldova. Accordingly, this day will be celebrated as the sad date of the beginning of the Soviet occupation,” explained Mihai Ghimpu.
The decree signed at the end of last week gave rise to a flurry of negative statements from both representatives of the ruling Alliance for European Integration and the opposition. The honorary chairman of the Democratic Party, Dmitry Dyakov, in a conversation with Vremya Novostey, called this document illegal, since resolving issues of setting memorable and holiday dates is within the competence of parliament. In addition, the decree was not agreed upon with the partners in the ruling coalition, which, in addition to the Liberal Party led by Ghimpu, also includes the Liberal Democratic and Democratic parties, as well as the Our Moldova alliance. “Gimpu is playing too hard,” stated Dyakov.
The coalition leaders met on Saturday to address the situation. Since Mihai Ghimpu did not come to the meeting, it was decided to meet again at 8 a.m. on Monday in order to announce a general decision on this matter.
As the head of the parliamentary faction of the Liberal Party, Ion Hadirca, explained to VN, this party is currently presiding over the ruling alliance, which is why it should have initiated the corresponding meeting. Our interlocutor clarified that the representative of the liberals had reasons not to attend the meeting convened without their participation. He considered the proclamation of the “day of Soviet occupation” to be legitimate, although belated - in his opinion, this step should have been taken two decades ago, simultaneously with the approval of the declaration of the sovereignty of the republic. By the way, at the solemn parliamentary meeting held on June 23 in honor of the 20th anniversary of the declaration, the leaders of the alliance were unanimous in their assessment of the events of 1940. This gives reason to believe that the current negative comments from some coalition representatives regarding the announcement of the “day of Soviet occupation” are due to their dissatisfaction with the fact that all political dividends from this decision will go to the Liberal Party, the head of the faction suggested in a conversation with VN.
The opposition Party of Communists declared the decree insulting to the Moldovan people and said that its deputies were ready to interrupt the four-month boycott of parliamentary sessions, announced due to the ruling alliance’s reluctance to announce early legislative elections in order to vote on June 28 for the resignation of Mihai Ghimpu from the post of speaker. The United Moldova party, whose representatives are also members of parliament, made a similar call.
The first deputy speaker, leader of the Our Moldova alliance, Serafim Urechean, answered negatively to VN’s question about the likelihood of approval at today’s parliamentary meeting of the proposal to resign the country’s acting president. “We will not allow populist performances either from the liberals or from the communists!” - he noted, eliminating the possibility of the collapse of the coalition. “Ghimpu’s decree is illegal, but it will be assessed by the constitutional court, where a corresponding request will be sent. There will be no split in the ruling alliance,” the vice speaker clarified. He spoke in favor of parliamentarians discussing more pressing issues on Monday - for example, amendments to the budget.
The leader of the Socialist Party of Moldova, Victor Morev, called Ghimpu’s decree “openly populist.” In order to be presented as a legislative initiative. President's document was able to gain legal force; before consideration in the legislative body, it had to receive the appropriate conclusions of the government and parliamentary commissions. “But the necessary procedures were not followed. And the deputies will not support this project. And Mr. Ghimpu needs all this hype solely for PR within the framework of the already begun election campaign in anticipation of the early parliamentary elections expected in the fall,” noted VN’s interlocutor.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decree “an element of a planned political campaign, aimed at the Russian-Moldovan partnership.” On Smolenskaya Square they said: “This is clearly about heightening emotions, diverting public attention from the real problems of today’s Moldova, and at the same time hacking the existing mechanisms for ensuring stability on the Dniester. The decree could become a prelude to confrontation on the political field and in the multinational Moldovan society.”