Maia Sandu did not attend the debate on Moldova 1 with the other two presidential candidates. Former prosecutor Alexander Stoianoglo, backed by the socialists, and Our Party leader Renato Usatii wanted to ask him questions.
According to recent opinion polls, they are the main electoral competitors of the current head of state. After his opening remarks, Stoianoglo left the debate. He explained that the representatives of the current government responsible for the crisis in the country were not here and he wanted to meet Sandu face to face to ask him a single question: “What has changed for the better in the country in the last four years and how has fulfilled his electoral promises?
“Public debates are mainly discussions between government officials and opposition representatives. I have nothing to discuss with Mr. Usatii Candidate. I have no questions for Mr. Usatii or the other candidates. He wanted to have a constructive dialogue with representatives of the current government. I have many questions for them. And I was willing to respond to the accusations that the authorities and Maia Sandu brought against me.” Stoianoglo said, adding that this does not mean he will not participate in other debates.
For his part, Usatii also confirmed that he has no questions for Stoianoglo, but will remain in the debate to “use this platform for dialogue with citizens.”
Previously, in one of the television programs, Maia Sandu described political debate as “a useful element of democracy when those who participate in it want to discuss specific issues and in a civilized manner, and not turn the debate into a spectacle in bad taste.” . However, continued the representative of the ruling Action and Solidarity party, in these elections “there are several candidates who are not entirely sincere, they are guided by a single source”: they do not come to the debate to carry out the democratic process, but to convert the discussions in a ridiculous situation.
“I’m not saying I won’t participate, we’ll see how events develop. We’ll see who the debate is with. “Citizens will see what kind of people are running for public office, what they have done in the past, who supports them, who finances them, what interests they promote.” — Maia Sandu concluded.
Let us remember that there are less than two weeks until the presidential elections in Moldova. The vote will take place on Sunday, October 20, the same day as the constitutional referendum on European integration.
There are 11 candidates competing for the position of head of state. At the beginning of the week, the WatchDog organization presented the results of a survey, which showed that if the vote were organized next Sunday, more than 36.1% of citizens would support Maia Sandu. Also among the top four are Alexander Stoianoglo (10.1%), Renato Usatii (7.5%) and Irina Vlah (4.1%). The remaining candidates, according to the survey results, receive up to 3% of the votes.
