Internet Memes, Campaigning On Receipts: How Moldova Preparing For Parliamentary Elections

Reminders that Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on February 24 can be found at every corner in the country's capital

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2019) Reminders that Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on February 24 can be found at every corner in the country's capital. However, it is hard to call ads on the streets annoying, since four years ago it was impossible to walk around the city without bumping into huge advertising billboards.

Today, the advertising space is not that big, and there are many fewer billboards. Small posters advertising in support of various parties hang in designated areas, while four years ago, they used to cover all the building fences, even in several layers.

However, there are kiosks here and there, in which young supporters of the candidates are ready not only to give out a newspaper or a brochure, but also to talk to you in an attempt to convince that it is their candidate that you should vote for.

The representatives of the ruling Democratic Party of Moldova have gone particularly far, placing their advertisements inside supermarket lockers, on the doors of cafes and even on the back side of heating bills.

A total of 14 parties and one electoral bloc intend to take part in the elections. The election campaign is focused on three parties, which, according to polls and experts' predictions, can get into the parliament. These are the ruling pro-European Democratic Party, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), which advocates a closer interaction with Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union, and the right-wing ACUM bloc.

Parliamentary elections in Moldova are held every four years. The parliament consists of 101 deputies. From this year forward, the minimum voter turnout requirement has been removed.

It is impossible to stay away from the elections when online as banners with party symbols pop up on every news portal and ads praising some candidates and vilifying the others can appear in the middle of any video content being watched online.

Social networks have turned into a so-called battlefield, with a variety of memes, caricatures, and collages depicting party leaders, their deputies, press secretaries and ordinary activists. Social networks as an advertising platform have become really popular, especially because they have an incredible coverage and it is easy to get an immediate feedback via them.

The issue of elections in Moldova is on the minds of many, especially since the elections will for the first time be held in accordance with a mixed electoral system, which implies that 50 deputies will enter parliament via party lists, and 51 will be elected under a single-representative constituency system.

These changes have also affected election campaigning. Four years ago, politicians paid more attention to large cities, while now they actively work with voters outside the capital.

The transition to a mixed electoral system has become an excellent opportunity for parties to communicate with people. Each constituency has its own candidate, but the majority of politicians running in the elections represent a certain political force and work as a team.

All in all, many people recognize only party leaders, and that is why they help their party fellows to draw the attention of the electorate. The democrats have been traveling across the country, trying to visit almost every state and private enterprise.

Neither doctors, nor teachers or economic agents have escaped their attention.

It is also impossible not to notice the socialists, as their bright red jackets and scarves make the party's candidates stand out in the crowd of voters. The leaders of the ACUM bloc, for their part, are ready to personally hand out leaflets with the party's program.

Future deputies approach the rest of the voters on an individual basis, reaching out to them from tv screens. Unfortunately, even political scientists call the debates, which are aired by various TV channels almost every night, kind of unconvincing. One possible reason for that is that they are most often attended by representatives of single-seat electoral districts, who are talking about a limited range of problems and do not want to spend airtime arguing with competitors.

According to the Independent Journalism Center of Moldova, monitoring the election campaign, the Democratic Party, the socialists and the ACUM bloc have been the campaign's most mentioned parties.

According to the polls, every sixth resident of Moldova has yet to decide on whom to vote for. But if asked, any passerby will pledge to definitely go to the polls.

"I always go to the polls and I am still naive enough to believe that I have the power to change something. I am really waiting for a new government, because nothing good has been done since 2009," Olga from Chisinau said.

Meanwhile, a man who was standing nearby at the same bus stop and heard what Olga was saying immediately started arguing that no changes were needed, as the necessary reforms had been just launched in the country.

"I would like to see new faces in the parliament, maybe this mixed system will make the deputies really represent the people and not just think about themselves. But I have not decided yet, whom to vote for. I still have time to think," Kirill, a student, said.

The issue of concern to all is how the parliamentary majority will be formed after the elections. Democrats, socialists and right-wingers say the same thing - that they do not see themselves in alliance with anyone because of totally different views on the development of Moldova.

"We should not trust the statements of politicians, made during the election campaign, suggesting that they intend to abandon coalitions. Now, both the left and the right want to dissociate themselves from the Democratic Party, they claim to be ideologically pure and believe that they cannot unite, but everything will change after the election campaign, it will be reasonable to begin the negotiating process," Moldovan political scientist Cornel Ciurea told Sputnik.

According to him, it will be really difficult for political leaders to abandon their previous positions in order to form an alliance with competitors, but there are also other options.

"The majority alliance can be formed not only by the union of several parties, perhaps it will be one party and fragments of other parties, I mean ordinary members, and not principal leaders of the parties," the expert explained.

Ciurea believes that the election campaign has had little impact on the balance of power and the things hardly differ from the way they stood before the start of the campaign.