Vlad Plahotniuc, the President of the Democratic Party offered an interview for Deschide.md. It is the first interview after the February 24 elections. The politician talked about the voting results, the condition of the politics and the possible Governing methods in case a coalition will be created. The Democratic leader also talked about the snap elections and a further political crisis that might happen.

-First of all, I would like to ask you if you are pleased about the DPM results within the election?

-We expected such a result, as the last surveys showed the same. It is a very good result for the DPM. As for me, the result I gained on No.17 constituency is great. I feel honored, but also I have a great responsibility for the residents of my district who voted for me and put their trust in me. Also, I want to thank the ones who voted for DPM team and my colleagues who run on other constituencies.

I think that the most important result of these election is a beginning of geopolitical reconciliation. This is the first election when the social agenda was ahead the geopolitics. We attended hundreds of election meetings, people asked us whether we are pro-Europeans, pro-Russians, pro-Americans, pro-Romania, they asked us what are we planning to do for Moldova. DPM tried to broke the geopolitical stereotypes and make people more unite. This is also shown by the results of some parties that already disappeared from the Moldovan political stage. The success of this election resides in the thing that people are no more influenced by geopolitics. Many analysts and politicians prefer to avoid this positive side of the election, because it proves that DPM strategy succeeded, it confirms the benefits of the mixed voting system for the citizens.

 I want to remind you that it is a big risk to approach the social topic at the election, but the result is a very good one and people voted for us, because we have the same interests as they do.

I want to mention that the results of this election show that the right wing parties needed to unite within ACUM bloc in order to pass in the Parliament, which is a very important sign. We also can't forget why the EU stopped to give us macro financial funding. The last surveys have proven the confusion that was created after this decision. We should learn some important things after these.

-Do you consider that the elections were free, fair and democratic?

-I am not the one who needs to approve it. First of all, the citizens need to decide whether the elections are free, fair and democratic, taking into consideration the voting presence, the sayings of the international and local observers. They consider that these elections obeyed all the democratic rules. I am sure that many problems can appear, but what is important is that during the elections there weren't grave problems to affect the results. Many said that this election is an important test for our country. But even the international observers say that the international rights and liberties were respected. The international observers agreed that starting with the registration of the candidates, the election campaign and the voting process all were free, fair and democratic. This all happened due to the state institutions, not due to the DPM.

 -ACUM leaders say that the election was rigged.

-They are the only one who said that after the international organizations said that the election was fair, free and democratic. Some politicians accuse others about the process or some wrongs if they are not pleased about the results that they got. But, each candidate has the right to opinion.

-Is there any chance for snap election to happen? What does Sergiu Sirbu's request to the Constitutional Court mean?

-For the Democratic Party the snap election is just another challenge, not a problem. We are sure we will get a better score, because we know how to learn from the mistakes we made. Though, the snap election is a problem for the citizen, as this means a complicated crisis of the economic and social fields of the country. The ones who want the snap election should be ready to explain its effects to the citizens. We have always learned to be ahead of the event, this is why we made this request to the Constitutional Court. In case somebody forces snap election, we need to know how to protect our citizens. We didn't intend to take more power for the Government and substitute the Parliament. This request only targets to find an eventual solution to an exceptional situation, a decision that explains the negative effects of the snap election. People voted for us to solve the country's problems, not to make snap election in case somebody disagrees with the result.

-ACUM bloc refused to talk with the DPM about a further coalition. What is the party going to do in such a situation?

-I kind of understand them, they announced that they refuse to talk with us, because before the election they signed an agreement that they will not make any coalitions in the further Parliament, in order to mobilize their supporters. It was a political movement. We need to accept it. But, we all know that the parties fight everywhere all over the world, but after the election things change, as everybody understand the country should be Governed. Another European countries also faced such a situation, where the President swore he will never call in prime minister office a certain person, but then he did it. I also know cases where the parties that were fighting aligned within the Parliament. Germany faced such a crisis, but, in the end the political opponents were governing together the country.

-But, these countries have another democracy models. The opposition doesn't pass some decent limits...

-No. You should check the declarations they made about each other and then you will see that there are some dirty declaration they addressed to each other. And, by the way, all along the election campaign, the Democratic Party didn't attack anybody, we just commented when others attacked us. I consider that the citizens don't care what do the politicians think about each other. Moreover, I will give you an example, many of ACUM candidates had been DPM allies previously. Then, they didn't have a problem to ally with us. This shows that the parties can unite their forces to work for this country.

-Is this invitation another poisoned apple, like they said before?

-We sent them this invitation without even announcing about it, in order to avoid such opinions and try to discuss with them. We were ready to negotiate and check on our common interests. I think that we should prove the citizens and the foreign partners what kind of Governance we want and then to say whom do we want to do it with.

-What are you going to do if ACUM continues to refuse to meet with DPM and discuss about a further cooperation? Will you send them another letter?

-I think that the ones who pressure ACUM make a big mistake. They will block themselves. I think they understand that they are the responsible ones about the snap election and about a further crisis. You also need to keep in mind that this bloc is formed of people who don't have an experience in politics. I don't criticize them, it is their strategy, they gained an amount of mandates. There is always place for citizens who are against the Government and they focused on those citizens. The thing is that these citizens also want a well-governed country, not an eventual crisis. If they knew that ACUM goes for snap elections, they would have changed their opinion about whom to give their vote for.

-If ACUM refuses to negotiate with DPM what is you next step? Are you planning an alliance with PSRM?

-I think it is normal to receive such a question, but it is my right not to give you an answer. We don't negotiate in this moment. We made only one step. We are waiting for the mandates to be declared valid and then we will take some other decisions. I think that the answer I can give today can be used after that as a speculation.

-How long will Moldova resist without a Government?

-We has an alert governing rhythm before the elections, we launched important projects that require to be continued immediately. Some of these can't be continued without a majority government. People are waiting for us to vote for more social projects, they want actions. We need to act fast, instead of waiting for the crisis to occur. 

- Well, now you solve these issues, but if it is without Government, crisis will be sparked off. What will you do in this case?

-You should ask who trigger this crisis as they must respond to the citizens. Elected deputies of ACUM bloc must assume the crisis which they provoke in the country, if they refuse dialogue and chose the path of chaos.

In such a situation, it will be our priority to protect citizens so that they will not suffer. But it is not the case to anticipate more. What I am telling you is that the Democratic Party will do everything politically possible to avoid a new crisis, like when our country underwent in early 2016, we will do our utmost to keep citizens from suffering such moments.

- I understand that you don't want to anticipate clearly what happens if ACUM refuses to negotiate. But can you tell us about the future government? How will it work? What direction will it take?

- The way the future government is conducted depends on agreement convinced by creators of parliamentary majority, but it's based on social needs of people. Democratic Party is the only party to have already publicized a draft agreement. We believe that people are waiting what the future government does than who with who make alliance. That's why I think the basis for negotiations to form the future alliance should be social themes, concrete projects on road repairing, water supply and sanitation, waste management, wage and pension increases, clear actions for people, not political ideas and empty words.

- Finally, I would like to ask if the attacks from Russia against you influenced the PDM score? Two days before the elections, the Russians announced to open a criminal case against you. Similarly, lots of critical articles in Russian press were opposing you. 

- In these elections, the Democratic Party took the largest number of mandates in its political history. I was personally elected by 72.36 percent of voters present in the 17th constituency. PDM gained an extraordinary score in this constituency - 72.27%. The party achieved a record score in locality of Russian people. Hence, the results showed that, if these attacks from Russia indeed had impact, the impact was positive for my result and party I lead, and the failure for organizers of these attacks against us.