Moldovan Liberal Democrats' leader says Kroll report must be made public

Chisinau, 24 April /MOLDPRES/ - Interview given by the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, Vlad Filat, with the Moldpres State News Agency.  

MOLDPRES: Mr. Filat, Moldova is officially in the electoral campaign, yet the parties, including the one you lead, seem to be far from it...

Vlad Filat: I do not know what the situation is and it is not my business to speak on this matter in the case of other parties, but as far as the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) is concerned, I want to tell you that we are preparing intensely for the elections due on 14 June. At this stage, we are working in primary organisations, identify candidates, and decide on campaign actions, other activities specific to such periods take place. In short, preparations are in full swing, and the results of the carried out work will be seen also by the public soon.

MOLDPRES: Can we say that these elections have caught PLDM off guard?

V.F.: A serious party must always be prepared for elections, especially since everyone knew that local elected officials’ mandates expire in 2014. But I understand what you mean – you are referring to the intention to hold elections somewhat later than June. Indeed, we had such an intention and our view was initially to carry out the administrative and territorial reform which we will have to implement anyway and subsequently organise local elections. By the way, a survey was recently released, showing that about 63 per cent of the population sees things exactly like that. Yet, given that our view did not have the needed support, we went to organise local general elections on 14 June 2015.

MOLDPRES: When will PLDM announce its candidate for the office of mayor of Chisinau?

V.F.: Presently, discussions, consultations, etc. are held at various levels within the Chisinau municipal organisation. Therefore, it is too early to give any names at this stage. But I want to assure you that we will come up with a strong candidate, a real professional, who will propose solutions to the problems the capital is facing.

MOLDPRES: What is the real stake of the general local elections this year?

V.F.: It is a very, very important one, because true professionals must come to the forefront of communities who, along with the country's central administration, should contribute to solving daily problems faced by the people. The quality of people's lives, the general situation in the country decisively depend on the quality of local authorities, due  to be elected by the citizens on 14 June 2015, as well as on the cooperation between them and the central government.

MOLDPRES: To what extent could the dose of dissatisfaction with the government of the country, in general, contained in opinion polls, affect the outcome of the elections?

V.F.: Well, people were never and nowhere in the world fully contented with their quality of life or the government’s actions. No matter how many problems are solved, targets achieved, there will always be aspects that will make way for people's dissatisfaction. But this does not mean we should deny that Moldova is experiencing problems or to say that everything is perfect and that things are going exactly as we want. I do not deny this fact, there are problems, but they must be resolved through daily work.

Sometimes, I hear statements alleging that, if the government changes, all problems would be solved in Moldova. But my question is: what is the alternative to the current government? And I believe that each citizen of this country, if asking him/herself this question, gets to one answer and it would not sound too optimistic for the future of Moldova. So, the conclusion is that we must work in continuation, solving the pressing problems of the people every day. This is the only way to live in a truly prosperous state.

MOLDPRES: In this context, I cannot but ask you about the scandal in the banking system and which - it is not a secret - affected the government's image, to a certain extent. What is going on with the Kroll company's report?

V.F.: We tackled this topic at the Alliance Council’s meeting on 23 April and the conclusion we reached was to ask the bodies in charge to declassify this report. This report must be made public as soon as possible! For, given the fact that it is secret, many speculations, interpretations, insinuations are being made. I hope that after the publication of the report, these speculations will stop.

By the way, Kroll’s report is only a first step to this end. Work will continue in order to elucidate the situation in this area, so that things become very clear and no one make speculations to pursue I don't know what interests.

MOLDPRES: Thank you.