The General Prosecutor’s Office announced on August 5 that it will start a criminal case on the usurping of state power that took place from June 7-14, 2019. The Minister of the Interior Andrei Năstase declared in a Facebook post, “Next week, it will be a surprise for many … Interim Attorney General Dumitru Robu could come in front of the legislative forum to request the lifting of parliamentary immunity to some deputies.” 

He added that this would have to happen in one of the Parliament’s extraordinary sessions, scheduled for August 12 or 13. But August 12 passed, and August 13 passed too – no surprise. One week later, none of the Interior Minister’s promises have happened. The surprises have been postponed. Until tomorrow? Or later?

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On August 12, instead of holding the extraordinary parliamentary meetings, President Igor Dodon convened the Presidency’s ordinary meeting with the parliamentary faction of the Socialist Party and the head of Parliament, Zinaida Greceanîi. According to Dodon, they discussed the agenda for the coming weeks. 

This would be nothing out of the ordinary, if the Prime Minister Maia Sandu, who Dodon used to invite, had not been absent from the meeting and if the topics on the agenda, which also concerned the activity of the Government, would have been discussed with the governing partners from ACUM. After the fact, Dodon said that the topics were not discussed, but will be discussed next week.

The Socialists insist on signing a new collaboration agreement with the ACUM Bloc, for a period of four years instead of the provisional agreement. The fact that the agenda was examined separately from the governing partners raises several questions regarding the sincerity of the Socialists to govern with ACUM Bloc. 

Increasingly, Igor Dodon and the Socialists leave the impression that they are using the ACUM Bloc as a formal component of the governing coalition, to strengthen their positions in society from the perspective of local elections in the autumn, and of the presidential ones next year as Dodon seeks a second term, as well as, the possibility of early parliamentary elections, which no one can exclude. 

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A day later, Dodon issued a presidential decree appointing Victor Gaiciuc as secretary to the Supreme Security Council and presidential adviser in the field of national defense and security policy. Gaiciuc is the father of Dodon’s godson and the former Minister of Defense (2001-2004), who Vladimir Voronin removed from office for serious thefts of weaponry from the National Army. 

The case gets even more suspicious. Two weeks ago, Dodon made the same mistake. After a fake contest, he installed another one of his servants – Ruslan Flocea, former secretary of the Presidential Office – as director of the National Anticorruption Center. And the surprises do not end here. Two days ago, Dodon announced publicly that he had decided to expand his advisory team, adding to the 12 members another one to handle relations with the business world. 

In  three years of presidency, Dodon has practically doubled the number of presidential advisers, half of whom have nothing in common with the constitutional powers of the head of state, which are direct prerogatives of the Government. Today, Dodon has more advisers than Maia Sandu has ministers. Have you ever wondered why? For what purpose does he need them? 

This also a question for those in the Government who are planning the President’s budget, and for those in Parliament, who approve it. Try to see what issues these advisers solve in education, research, health, agriculture, industry, economy, diaspora, interethnic relations. Through this team of advisers, Dodon tries to create a kind of personal micro-government around him and to marginalize the real one, belonging to Maia Sandu, which he said [more than  once] is weak.

For Dodon, the February parliamentary elections are not over. Dodon continues to dream of a presidential republic and since this is impossible on a parliamentary basis, he is looking for an alternative to his old obsession or perhaps a Russian project.

ACUM offered Dodon [as Octavian Țâcu previously confirmed] too much freedom of choice. In the two months, since the signing of the temporary Agreement between the Socialists and the ACUM Bloc, Dodon has taken over the Parliament, the Army, the Security and Intelligence Service, the State Guard, the National Anticorruption Center and the Office of the Prosecutor General. It is not clear what will happen with the justice system, Anti-corruption and the Constitutional Court, although, the temporary Agreement only concerns the sharing of the Parliament and the Government.

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On Tuesday, the Socialist Party’s Political Council called on the Socialist parliamentary faction to negotiate and sign a new 4-years Governance Agreement with the ACUM Bloc,to replace the provisional one, of June 8, which, in their opinion, was mostly fulfilled. On Wednesday Igor Dodon declared that this Agreement, was 90-95% already negotiated. 

Really fulfilled? Except for the sharing of functions in Parliament and Government and the adoption of the Declaration of Captive State for the Republic of Moldova, nothing was achieved. The two Commissions of Inquiry – on the subject of the stolen billion and the usurpation of state power – will only report on the situation in September, and as far as the un-capturing of state institutions is concerned, things did not change. What’s the rush for the ACUM to sign a new Agreement? It is enough that it was signed overnight on June 8. Is there a fire?

• Questions for the ACUM Bloc

Did you notice that Igor Dodon has changed? That lately he has taken courage, has become more offensive, more cynical. During Plahotniuc’s time (?!) he was different: he was more restrained, he did not personally reproach the most powerful party leader, and if he allowed a few words to escape, he spoke about things in general, so as not to cause problems with the puppet master.

What happened? Have Năstase and Sandu changed his behaviour by fulfilling his desires after June 8? It may be necessary to temper these desires of his. And the negotiation of a second Agreement would be a solution.

Petru Grozavu,