Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09CHISINAU35
2009-01-16 13:30:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Chisinau
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR CHAUDHRY MEETS "PIVOT PARTY"

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR MD 
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RR RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHCH #0035/01 0161330
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 161330Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7525
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000035 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE

E.O. 12958: Declassify 01/15/1919
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR MD
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CHAUDHRY MEETS "PIVOT PARTY"
LEADER DIACOV

REFS: A. 08 Chisinau 1260 B. 08 Chisinau 1258

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 CHISINAU 000035

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/UMB, DRL/AE

E.O. 12958: Declassify 01/15/1919
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM PINR MD
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR CHAUDHRY MEETS "PIVOT PARTY"
LEADER DIACOV

REFS: A. 08 Chisinau 1260 B. 08 Chisinau 1258

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


1. (C) Summary: In a January 13 meeting with
Democratic Party (PD) leader Dumitru Diacov,
Ambassador Chaudhry questioned Diacov on pre-
election conditions and stressed that the world
was watching Moldova. Diacov acknowledged the
importance of the elections, thanked the USG for
its democratization efforts, and complained about
Government of Moldova (GOM) restrictions on
opposition parties. Diacov said that the PD would
take about ten percent of the vote and provide the
only "pivot point" around which non-Communist
parties of the left and right could join in a
coalition after spring elections. End summary.

I Voted for Voronin but Was Betrayed
--------------


2. (C) Diacov presented the PD as a peace-loving,
centrist party (although it is a member of the
Socialist International). He defended his
decision to help elect Voronin in 2005, but
criticized the President for reneging on promises,
harassing the PD, and demanding that Parliament
"vote his way and praise him" on all issues.
Diacov said that Voronin had broken his promise
not to raise the four percent threshold for entry
into Parliament. Voronin, he said, also
threatened PD mayoral candidates in 2007 with loss
of jobs if they stayed in the PD. As a result,
said Diacov, all 146 PD candidates for mayor ran
as independents, and only 33 won. They still, he
said, were PD members, but could not say so
officially.

No Coalition with the Party of Communists
--------------


3. (C) The GOM, Diacov said, had also refused free
air time on public television for opposition
parties. Diacov expressed his appreciation for
the democratization programs of the National
Democratic Institute (NDI). He also noted that
the PCRM's refusal to participate in NDI training
programs was part of Voronin's habitual rejection
of any group that did not cooperate loyally with
him. Regretting that the PD had behaved honorably
towards Voronin but was singled out for attack,
Diacov ruled out a parliamentary coalition with
the Party of Communists (PCRM).

Other Parties Problematic, But Coalitions Possible
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Diacov also criticized other political
leaders. The leader of Our Moldova Alliance
(AMN),Serafim Urechean (ref B),he said, was rude
and confused. Nevertheless, Diacov said that he
had voted with the AMN in 14 raions to elect AMN
council chairs, and would be willing to form a
parliamentary coalition in 2009. Christian
Democrat (PPCD) leader Iurie Rosca (ref A),he
noted, was inciting the people against the PD, and
paying activists to reverse his dropping poll
numbers. Diacov said that he offered an alliance
with Social Democrat (PSD) leader Dumitru Braghis,
but Braghis "did not want to lose his social
democrat brand" and refused. Diacov said that his
former colleague (and now Liberal Democrat leader)
Vlad Filat was spending millions to buy party
members and votes. Despite these criticisms,
Diacov said that the PD would not attack any party
or person during the campaign, in order to
maintain its potential as a unifying pivot in
Moldovan politics.

Diacov Hedges His Vote Predictions
--------------

5. (C) Diacov emphasized that Moldova was ahead of
Romania in democratization and economic reforms in
the 1990s, and had since slipped far behind under
PCRM rule. He stated that pensioners would
continue to vote for the PCRM because of the
party's paternalistic image. Diacov predicted
that PD and PCRM would be winners on the left, and
that Urechean's AMN and the Liberal Party (PL)

CHISINAU 00000035 002 OF 002


would likely represent the right in Parliament.
(Note: He hedged his bets by noting the weakness
of PL deputy leader, Chisinau Mayor Dorin
Chirtoaca, in the regions, and Urechean's
"confused personality." Former Prime Minister
Tarlev's Centrist Union, he noted, had good name
recognition, and PLDM's Filat was spending
millions. End note.)

Comment
--------------


6. (C) Diacov gave a realistic assessment of his
party's electoral strengths. Only the relative
parliamentary strengths of the winners will
determine whether he will be allowed to play his
role as the Great Unifier, and overcome the strong
mutual animosities of the opposition parties.

CHAUDHRY