One week is left before the early parliamentary elections, and the issues related to the elections have not been fully settled yet. There is no doubt that in this election campaign, Moldova faced two big problems: criminal candidates and marginalized diaspora.

On the one hand, the criminals from some parties, not being stopped on time by the courts for a low threshold of participation in the elections, unleashed themselves. They became the most vocal and the most disgusting participants in the election. Hopefully, this summer they gave the last lesson to the electorate, showing that these political actors are no longer needed in the public space and that the corrupt not only steal and evade justice but are also mischievous, shameless, and aggressive.

On the other hand, the issue of the diaspora vote persisted in this campaign. The number of polling stations was truncated by the Central Election Commission as well as by the courts, as if in a contest of electoral humiliations.

Finally, Moldova will have 150 polling stations in 36 countries, which means a greater number than in previous elections, but still not enough. In addition to the problem of an inadequate number of polling stations, various politicians sent numerous insulting messages to the diaspora.

Personally, I have always taken the issue of people leaving Moldova close to heart. Yes, I know that most of them left because they could no longer live here: lack of jobs, too many constraints, too many violated rights, and too few chances for change for the better. However, I had this selfish desire to have them stay, so that there are more of us to fight here. The wave of emigration, however, has been unstoppable.

However, for some time now I share feelings of enormous satisfaction related to the diaspora. Even though they left and most of them are not going to return, even though they have managed to solve the problems they faced here and they have good houses and interesting jobs abroad, they still do Moldova a great favor. Although they live in decent conditions and earn decent wages, the diaspora comes out of the comfort zone on Election day and makes tens and hundreds of kilometers, standing in endless queues for hours in the rain, in the snow, in the sun, they sacrifice their free time and they spend money to get to polling stations that are often located in other regions or even in other countries.

No doubt, the politicians who are not voted for by these members of the diaspora always ask themselves the critical question: what makes these people spend time and money and endure so much discomfort to vote for a party that is in Moldova, the country where they no longer live and probably will never live?

I remember the early 2000s, when migration became a devastating phenomenon, although not recognized by the authorities. People left at night, secretly, illegally, with false documents, hidden in trunks, tied under wagons, rolled in carpets, crouched in trailers with goods. They swam across rivers, risking their lives, health, and future, being bitten by snakes, chased by wild animals and human patrols, dying of thirst and despair, and surviving only thanks to their great dream – to come to live humanely in a normal state. Most of them paid huge sums to traffickers. Moldova roared with stories about trade in documents and migrants, but the authorities were silent, and the politicians pretended that the problem did not exist. Many high-ranking officials were part of the business, participating in the police, the customs, the Government, the Parliament in activities to cover these crimes, receiving financial benefits.

This is the diaspora’s response to a particular political class. They took a deep hatred of the dignitaries who watched the tragedy and did nothing but receive their profit from the human trade. Those politicians of the past will never be accepted by today’s diaspora. And I feel that the diaspora will fight to the end, in every election campaign, in the cold, in the rain, in the wind, overcoming long distances and crossing borders. They will help eliminate the corrupt political class, and this will be the reward for the torment of their departure and the reward for the misery of all those who remained.