CHISINAU MAYOR COMPLAINS TO AMBASSADOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 001168

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E.O. 12958: Declassify 11/25/18
TAGS: PREL PGOV PINR AMGT MD
SUBJECT: CHISINAU MAYOR COMPLAINS TO AMBASSADOR
ABOUT GOVERNMENT HARASSMENT, SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR
PARLIAMENT

Classified by Ambassador Asif J. Chaudhry under
1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: In a November 25 meeting,
Chisinau Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca complained to
Ambassador Chaudhry about central government use
of the Termocom heating issue to try to embarrass
him, stated his implacable opposition to
unrepentant Communists, and agreed to cooperate
with the Embassy on a traffic-diversion security
plan. End summary.


2. (C) Chirtoaca noted several tendentious changes
in Termocom, the city's supplier of electricity
and central heating, since he took office in June

2007. Chirtoaca said that Termocom, in only one
year, had raised its estimates of power losses
from 19% to 25%, and of water losses from 900,000
cubic meters to 2.2 million. Termocom salaries
have increased from 53 to 72 million lei. These
increases have put an extra burden on the city
administration, which must pay the difference
between citizen tariffs and actual costs. These
tariffs have been kept artificially low for years.
Chirtoaca characterized the efforts of the
government-owned energy company as an attempt to
make his administration look inefficient and
irresponsible.


3. (C) Asked about the 2009 parliamentary
elections, Chirtoaca said that the Party of
Communists (PCRM) would gain about 40% of the
vote, and run an attractive dark horse (possibly
Deputy Prime Minister Valentin Mejinschi) as its
candidate for president. In contrast to his
opening statement that the PCRM and its allies
were losing their ability to fool the people, he
said that Communists were adept at hiding their
true intentions with false pro-democracy
statements, and that most politicians in Moldova
were unreformed members of the Soviet and post-
Soviet nomenclature.


4. (C) Chirtoaca, who was 28 when he was elected,
said that he was a rare example of an untainted
politician, since he had achieved a top-level job
without spending years in the corrupting processes
of Moldovan political activity. He said that his
Liberal Party could possibly cooperate with
Serafim Urechean's AMN party, but then noted his
sorrow that Urechean had congratulated Russia on
its invasion of Georgia. (Note: Chirtoaca had
probably not seen the morning edition of the PCRM-
supported newspaper "Moldova Suverana," which
described opposition parties as "conceived in
drunkenness." The newspaper displayed on page 3 a
foul half-page doctored photo of Chirtoaca
fondling the crotch of a grossly fat woman.
Urechean's face was photoshopped oto the woman's
visage. End note.)


5. (C) Chirtoaca complained that the PCRM, which
has lost voes steadily since it came to power in
2001, was esperate to win in 2009, and could
possibly keepthe presidency with a combination of
campaign abuses and post-election alliances with
fellow travelers in other parties. He cited the
GOM's harassment of independent PRO TV as an
example, and said that the PCRM was confident that
it could take away the station's broadcast license
and still maintain good relations with the
international community if it won the elections.


6. (C) Chirtoaca said that he would run for
Parliament in 2009, to help boost the vote of
democratic forces, but not take a seat. He would
preserve his promise to the voters that he would
serve a full term as mayor. He hailed the
November 4 European Court of Human Rights decision
against Moldova's election law. The law requires
dual nationals to declare their other nationality
before running, and renounce their parliamentary
seat or their other passport, if they win the
parliamentary race. The law, Chirtoaca noted, was
aimed at Romanian-Moldovan dual nationals, and
reflected the GOM's opposition to citizens with a
pro-Romanian, pro-European attitude.


7. (C) Chirtoaca agreed readily that closing off

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100 meters of the street in front of the Embassy
to provide added security was a good idea, and
requested information on plans so that he could
set up experts' meetings between City Hall and the
Embassy.


8. (C) Comment: Chirtoaca takes a hard line
against Communists and fellow travelers, and will
not work with any politician who has not
demonstrated, by word and deed, a commitment to
democracy. This limits his ability to form
alliances, but, given his 61% showing in the final
round of the June 2007 local elections, it did not
keep him from winning at least one election.
Whether he can repeat that performance, or pass
his influence on to the rest of his party, which
languishes in single digits in the polls, remains
to be seen. End comment.

Chaudhry