CHISINAU MAYOR COMPLAINS TO AMBASSADOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 001168 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE, OBO, DS 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 CHISINAU 00001168 002 OF 002 100 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