In the local elections, Ion Cheban, a rock star of the Russian world and anti-reformists from Chisinau, with whom the city has never been identified, wins a landslide. With the image of a good administrator, on the model of Piedone, but also with skeletons in the closet, Ceban is preparing for a new challenge: the presidential and parliamentary elections next year in 2025. The inability of the Party of Action and Solidarity to resist and the loss of (from the new) Chisinau shows the politics of bankruptcy, which lives on thanks to the image of Maia Sandu.

Ion Ceban wins the Chisinau mayor’s office for the second time. A landslide victory, starting in the first round, by a large margin (50.6% to 28.2%) over Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) candidate Maya Sandu. And Cheban not only manages to avoid a runoff, but also creates his own electoral vehicle, a small batch of a dozen called National Alternative Movement, in the first place in the Municipal Council of Chisinau. With the help of the Socialists and Communists, who came in 3rd and 4th after PAS, Cheban has every chance of creating a comfortable majority.

The Chisinau Mayor’s office is just a milestone victory for the new star of the pro-Russian and anti-reformist forces in Chisinau, the big bet is the presidential and parliamentary elections, which will last more than a year and two years, respectively. And if Maia Sandu still has a very high political capital in Moldova, which translates into a clear victory in the upcoming presidential elections, the erosion of PAS is noticeable. An apparent alliance between pro-Russian and anti-reformist parties grouped around fugitive oligarchs Plahotniuc (the weakness of the Romanian PSD, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our services) or Ilan Shor (hidden in Israel) will lead not only to an anti-reformist majority in many districts and cities (including Chisinau), but this will create significant problems in the long term, the obvious risk of blocking Moldova’s European path.

Let’s talk a little about Ion Cheban. The former secretary for the ideology of the Socialist Party, who for many years opposed European integration, with frequent visits to Moscow (the investigative press writes that he was in Moscow on the day of the invasion of Ukraine) and, of course, is called a defender of the traditional family and a homophobe. However, Ceban has changed in recent years, especially after consultants discovered that projecting a pro-Russian and anti-European discourse was no longer working in Chisinau. Ihor Dodon, the former boss of Ion Cheban, left the tough position to the discretion of Ihor Dodon.

And let’s talk a little about what illusions he sells and what image Ion Cheban projects now. Pro-European, with frequent visits to Bucharest and meetings with Romanian political leaders (30 visits in 2022 alone), who refrains from anti-European comments and thanks for frequent funding from Romania or other EU states. But unable to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine (at some point he stuttered) and fierce critic of Maya Sandu and PAS. A kind of jukebox with the same messages against Maia Sandu and PAS repeated every day could have a fantastic career on Rtv or Antena 3. I wrote a lot about Ceban and his relationship with Romania in a CRPE report called “The Adventures of Ion Ceban” . in Romania.

And despite all this, he won, leading the Chisinau City Hall in a parade. Chisinau has the aura of a mayor who does this. It doesn’t matter what, just do it. And it’s very noticeable when it happens. If you want to compare with Bucharest, this is the Piedone model. Such an authoritarian mayor who seems to restore order in the town hall, keeps the city clean, makes minor repairs (in particular, sidewalks, playgrounds, some streets, etc.). And he is appreciated for that.

It was so appreciated that the population of Chisinau, a pro-European city, suffered amnesia at the ballot box and voted for a pro-Russian mayor for another term. And he ignored all the other skeletons in the closet (accusations of corruption, funding from Russia, nepotism with anti-reformist parties, and especially the chaotic development of the city). If you get the impression that Bucharest is under siege by unscrupulous developers, then Chisinau is light years away with blocks of 10-20 floors among buildings, green spaces and ruined infrastructure. But it is cleaner here, and the central areas look better.

Cheban’s opponent in the election was Lilian Karp, a representative of PAS. A decent politician, many years in the politics of Chisinau, with whom you can probably think about the development of the city, but unknown, a little charismatic and with a weak or very weak campaign. If we keep the comparison, it reminds us of the charisma of Dan Barna from USR, who was something like their representative in Moldova. On election night, after the first results were announced, when it became clear that Ceban had won, he could only say that “the electorate is sovereign and he and PAS have done their best for the city” (sic!).

But they didn’t. Ceban has skeleton after skeleton in his closet that would require buying 3-4 more closets and he had to be hacked by it every day. And perhaps more than ever, PAS and Lilian Karp should have stood up for what Ion Ceban represents: of the Russian, anti-reformist world, a period with which Kishinev has never identified, and whose purpose is to block Moldova’s European path. None of this happened.

Instead, Ceban was left to talk for days about his privileged relationship with some EU states and European political leaders (well done, Romania and especially the Social Democratic Party!), about the funding he received, about being a centrist politician whose Aim – good city management and not to interfere in geopolitical disputes. I repeat, the great hope of the Russian and anti-reformist world in this regard was not attacked at all, I even got the impression that his pre-election speech was even accepted.

There was also a tribune. Many television stations in Chisinau are still in the ranks of anti-reformist and pro-Russian parties. He also has his own “advertising agency” – ionceban.md, financed, of course, from the air. Few, but very few journalists asked him uncomfortable questions at press conferences. Really long monologues. Cheban’s media protection is high. However, this in no way justifies the inability of PAS to put its bones on the public agenda and present its own vision of the city’s development.

40% of voters came to the elections. Against the background of mass migration and lack of interest, the age groups with a very high presence were people over 55 years old. The turnout was significantly higher than in 2019 (about 5%), and analysts from the Republic of Moldova say that the youth turnout was actually much higher (just under a third of young people under 25 turned out to vote), as most of them are outside the country .

The so-called high turnout actually helped Cheban, who managed to increase his electoral fund from approx. 90 thousand votes 4 years ago to over 132 thousand in 2023. Huge growth. It also led to the dominance of pro-Russian and anti-reformist forces in the municipal council (with the exception of PAS, which has 20 seats and is affiliated with Cheban’s party, only one pro-European party won 1 seat with 2.55%). The picture of the disaster is complete.

At the national level (district and municipal councils), PAS won the election (32.87%), followed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party (23.57%) and the two parties that gravitate around Plahotniuc, and the Romanian PSD (European Social Democratic Party – 8.1% and the Party of Development and Solidarity of Moldova – 5.25%). The image of PAS coming first in the county elections (county level) was also very popular in Romania. In 19 out of 32 districts, PAS came out on top. Unfortunately, it will be difficult for many to form a majority without significant compromises, the following parties are either pro-Russian or anti-reform, and in many district centers and large cities PAS lost the elections. The assimilation of a large number of village chiefs has also led to a result which may seem acceptable to the good.

A final comment on the context of the election. Money from Russia and fugitive oligarchs for disinformation and propaganda flowed, as in the good old days, to Chisinau. And the authorities and law enforcement agencies could not stop this incredible interference in the elections. And not only for propaganda, but also for corruption of voters. ilan sora party, Chance, which organized dozens of protests against the EU last year, was declared unconstitutional and barred from participating in the elections (for the second time, the original party suffered the same fate), but its representatives (who ran as independents) won cities and important communes. – read the entire article and comment on contributors.ro