Globally, if there’s one thing that has become more popular over the past year than fake science, it’s fake democracy.

Last week (July 11), the Republic of Moldova held parliamentary elections.

To America and the European Union’s delight, President Maia Sandu’s party PAS won big. As in real big. As in the largest majority ever received by a single party since the Republic of Moldova became an independent country.

In fact, despite receiving just 52.8% of all votes, PAS will get 63 seats (out of 101). In other words, despite getting half the votes, PAS will get two-thirds of the seats in Parliament.

And all this when less than half the eligible voters even bothered to cast a vote.

So, is this just sour grapes? Didn’t PAS win fair and square?

Well, yes and no.

Skulduggery

Moldova, despite being a small country, has deeply complex political currents swirling about at all times, and this year’s election was no different.

Essentially, thanks to all kinds of shenanigans, court tricks, and (illegal) interference by the EU and the United States, Moldova has been (more or less) without a functioning government for some two years, as I have partly described in earlier articles.

At the end of April of this year, President Sandu finally got enough judges to agree that elections would be held in July, and that’s when the fun really began.

First, Sandu and her allies started agitating to increase the number of polling stations in the diaspora (abroad).

This is not a new trick, and it is something that has been going on for years. Even during the past year’s insanity, a lot of Moldovans still live and work abroad, enough so that their vote is essential for winning an election.

In previous years, when the country with the most overseas Moldovan votes was Russia, expanding the number of polling places primarily benefited the Socialist and Communist Parties.

However, thanks to the European Union’s fake “tourist” policy (in which Moldovans are allowed to “travel” but not work in Europe, but actually work illegal jobs for less money and no benefits or protection, something the EU turns a blind eye to), more Moldovans are now in Western Europe and the United States than ever before. And these people are overwhelmingly in favor of Maia Sandu and her PAS party.

Therefore, the push was on to increase the number of polling stations in the US and the EU, and increase them by a lot.

The problem, unfortunately, was that Moldovan law makes it really clear that all polling stations must be allocated and set up at least 30 days before an election. And, thanks to typical Moldovan fucking around, PAS didn’t get organized in time to legally ask the CEC (Electoral Commission) to add additional polling stations.

So, what happened?

What do you think happened?

The United States blatantly and illegally interfered in the election, of course!

Hogan, Loyal Until the End

United States Ambassador to Moldova Dereck J. Hogan, appointed by President Trump, knew he was going to be moved on soon to another post. But in his last (important) act as Ambassador, he went directly to the CEC and lobbied them to increase the number of overseas polling stations.

Remember, this is explicitly against the law, but the US Embassy is so brazen that they bragged about Hogan’s interference in Moldova’s affairs on their official Facebook page.

Just think about that for a moment, will you?

Imagine if China or Russia sent their official ambassador to America’s Federal Elections Commission and pressured them to break election law, openly and publicly. Of course, it would be considered an outrage.

But, as we all know, America never, ever follows the rules.

The Last of the Moldovans

In response to this blatant interference by the United States, to say nothing of the EU’s overt campaigning for PAS to win, the anti-PAS forces banded together to form a single electoral bloc known as BECS (Socialists and Communists).

Officially, BECS won 27% of the vote, and will receive some 32 seats in the next parliament.

But if you look at a map of the districts where they won, it’s entirely the hardcore Moldovan sections of the country – the far north, the southeast (including Gagauzia and the Bulgarian regions) and the voters who live in Pridnestrovie.

Everywhere else, including the capital and surrounding region, as well as the areas that border Romania, PAS won big.

Furthermore, unlike PAS, BECS actually ran a proper campaign. They put out flyers and leaflets, explaining their political positions. They also laid out detailed policies that they would implement should they win. BECS even held a few campaign rallies (despite the poorly enforced “COVID restrictions”). And they invited PAS several times to debate them on the issues.

Ghost Party

PAS, on the other hand, ran the strangest campaign I’ve ever seen. For one, they distributed virtually no flyers or leaflets, and made zero attempt to explain any of their policies whatsoever.

PAS declined all offers of a debate. PAS, as far as I can tell, also did not do any ad buys on either Facebook (Moldova’s most popular social network) or Google.

In other words, they declared nothing, said nothing, and promised almost nothing concrete.

In fact, a couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went to a small town (in Moldova) near here, and there were barely even any posters from PAS on the official town election corner where all parties are allowed (and encouraged) to put election material even though this was a town where most people support PAS.

And while there was a big tent from BECS with a lady who was more than happy to talk about BECS’ policies and platform, there was nobody from PAS on hand at all.

If you ask ten Moldovans what PAS stands for, you’d probably get ten different answers. And that’s exactly how PAS wants it. By promising nothing, and saying nothing of substance, and refusing to campaign or debate, everyone could just imagine what PAS stands for.

And that, pretty much, is how PAS won so big.

First, they received an avalanche of votes from people overseas like my brother-in-law, citizens of Moldova who do not live here, have not lived here for a long time, and have no idea whatsoever of what Moldova needs.

Secondly, PAS openly colluded in an illegal manner with both the EU and the United States to get all kinds of overseas polling stations set up, including at least three in shitty hotels, one in a Christian academy (in Chicago), and – I am not making this up – one in a restaurant called “Russian Restaurant” (in New York City).

Third, PAS tried (but failed) to block residents of Pridnestrovie from voting. I’ve previously detailed just a tiny fraction of the shenanigans and illegal acts committed by Igor Grosu, the head of the PAS party (Maia Sandu, as president, cannot be a member of a party even if she still acts like she runs PAS), a guy who literally used his own personal car to block a polling station in Varnita last year.

Some of the coarser (fascist) elements of PAS, along with the odious Moldovan branch of Romania’s fascist AUR party, did indeed try to cause trouble in Varnita a few times ahead of the elections.

And yes, of course, PAS (and Sandu) screamed about ghost buses full of people from Pridnestrovie “paid to vote” for BECS, even though, once again, not a single photo or piece of evidence was offered.

Aftermath

Literally, the day after PAS won the elections, and before the results were even certified as official, the European Union announced that it was going to give Moldova 600 million euros (note that the article, in English, was written entirely by Romanians), a not insignificant sum of money.

Nominally, that money had been promised on June 2 (a month before the elections), but do you really think that those funds would’ve been released if BECS had won? Come on, now. The EU would’ve demanded all kinds of “reforms” first.

No, instead, it was a blatant bribe, saying, in effect, “Vote for PAS, and we, the EU, will make you rich.” Except, of course, nobody in Moldova will ever see that money.

A few days later, riding high on winning a grand total of 25% of the (total possible) vote, Maia Sandu put out what I expected would be a more detailed policy statement. Instead, all it said was “we promise to work with Ukraine and Romania to hate on Russia” and “the EU is the solution to all of your dreams.”

Wow… so promising.

You WILL Pay for Being Different

Oh, and Maia Sandu did promise, yet again, to “get rid of the Russian peacekeepers” in Pridnestrovie, something she could easily do in five minutes simply by refusing to let them land at the Chisinau airport.

Nonetheless, the message that PAS is sending to Pridnestrovie is clear: we’re gonna make your life hell.

Never mind that not a single PAS leader, including Maia Sandu, including the Empire Loyalist that she wants to make Prime Minister (Natalia Gavrilita, who lives in London), and including Igor Grosu, have ever set foot in Pridnestrovie.

These anti-PMR people have no idea what life is like here, and they honestly do not give a shit about the thousands of Moldovans who live here and what they might want or need. They’ve never once talked to anyone on the Moldovan side of the PMR border about the things they need, including buying medications that can only be found in PMR, access to advanced health care facilities, sending or withdrawing money, or even just something as simple as visiting their relatives.

Furthermore, this hardline anti-PMR stance might work well for winning votes (especially from Moldovans who live overseas and don’t give a shit about Tiraspol), but what it told the PMR government is “we have no intention of negotiating with you about anything.”

And, if that weren’t enough, Sandu has completely pissed off the entire Gagauzia region. Her party didn’t field a single candidate in that region, and it’s likely that Sandu would get booed off the stage if she dared show her face in Comrat any time soon.

Stubborn as a Mule

Stubbornness and a commitment to a political vision is fine, but Maia Sandu has already gotten in big trouble in the past for her refusal to ever negotiate or compromise with anyone.

In 2019, when she was briefly Prime Minister, she lost her job precisely because she had no idea how to negotiate with her then-political partners in the ruling coalition. Indeed, Sandu was booted out because she refused to acknowledge that her personally choosing all of the country’s prosecutors was undemocratic.

Therefore, it looks like her plan is to get PAS’ super majority to ram through every single one of her dictatorial fantasies, including choosing all of the judges, prosecutors, and heads of governmental departments (such as the electoral commission).

On paper, I’m sure that sounds great to her supporters. But right now, all Sandu and PAS have done is make extremely vague promises.

Unfortunately, for her, Moldova is not a well-oiled authoritarian dictatorship. There are a whopping 37 different county-level administrations (Romania, in contrast, with ten times the population, has only 42). Furthermore, there are thousands of bureaucratic posts, and not all of those people are going to be complaisant with PAS’s policies, especially not without a little back-scratching and sweet-talking.

Furthermore, a lot of Moldovans are now expecting some rather dramatic changes, and if PAS cannot deliver them soon, their support is going to evaporate.

A lot of people dislike the Socialist Party (and Communist Party), and for good reason. But one thing you can always say about them is that they have depth. They’ve got a roster of men and women 500 deep at least throughout the country, and a vast network.  And, most importantly, they understand what it takes to make deals and accept less than perfect compromises in order to get things done.

Popular Front Redux

It’s worth remembering here that Moldova was home to one of the strangest political phenomena in modern times anywhere on the planet.

Back in 1989, when Moldova was still part of the Soviet Union, a political organization known as the “Popular Front” led a massive protest in Chisinau.

Estimates are that some 300 thousand people gathered in Chisinau on August 27, 1989, demanding both independence from the Soviet Union and a push towards greater recognition of Moldovan (and Romanian) identity, including changing the language to the Latin (as opposed to Cyrillic) script.

To give you an idea of just how significant 300 thousand people marching is, in the entire history of Romania (which again, has roughly ten times the number of people as Moldova), there has never been any protest, gathering, or movement with that many people (slightly over 100k has been the record).

In 1990, the Popular Front dominated the elections to the (then still Soviet) Moldovan parliament. And it seemed like the coast was clear for them to rule Moldova for many years to come.

And yet, by 1992, just two years later, the party had fallen apart completely, the movement disintegrated, and the whole thing was basically over. So how do you go from the biggest political movement in the country’s history to washed up nobodies in just two years?

By being fascist assholes, that’s how.

And I predict much the same will happen with PAS in the near future, although, thanks to continuing restrictions on freedom and a hell of a large suitcase full of cash from the EU (and, quite literally, a planeload of “vaccines” from the United States which were made by Johnson & Johnson and are, therefore, useless for travel within the EU), it’ll continue on for a while.

Of course, I might be wrong. But I do know that PAS’ decisive victory was a huge gift for the Communists and Socialists. Because now that they’ve been completely shut out of power, they are now free to protest, disrupt, and throw as many wrenches in the works as possible.

Still Losing!

Last, but not least, Adrian Nastase, Moldova’s biggest loser, had another spectacular loss during last week’s elections.

Just over a year ago, Nastase’s PPDA party was in an official alliance with Sandu’s PAS party. But Nastase broke that alliance in March 2020 during a by-election in the city of Hincesti (right before most pandemic restrictions kicked in) out of spite because he thought he was due to become the next president (in exchange for having supported Sandu as Prime Minister).

Since then, PAS has left Nastase and his PPDA party in the dust as they are no longer needed. Last week, PDDA got a grand total of 2% of the votes cast, a pitiful return surpassed by several other parties, leaving Nastase’s party without a single seat in the parliament.

Indeed, the smug asshole was handily beaten both by Renato Usatii (whom, you might remember, was illegally blocked from running in the 2014 parliamentary elections thanks to more US/EU interference) and Ilan Shor. Yep, the same guy who stole a billion dollars and got away with it.

But, the US and EU got what they wanted, and all levers of power are now in the hand of devoted Empire loyalists. Let’s see what they do with it, now.

However, my money’s on the independent spirit of Moldovans (who actually live in Moldova). They might not be the most sophisticated people in the world, but they are surprisingly adept at figuring out when they’re being bullshitted.