The opposition presidential candidate in Moldova promises to abide by ten rules of her own code, some of which she has already violated in the past.
On the eve, Maia Sandu was nominated as a candidate for the post of head of the republic from the Action and Solidarity party. The failed prime minister of the country, speaking during the ceremony, promised to follow the set of rules that she herself invented.
“Today I presented the president’s code of 10 basic rules that I promise to abide by,” Sandu said.
Although the rules outlined in this code may bribe the voter, they are too vague and are solely part of a PR campaign. Moreover, even recently, Sandu has violated certain rules.
“The president is not the master of the country, he is the servant of the people. A good president is committed to upholding the law and morality. The President in no way stands above the rules, on the contrary, he must observe them with all the rigor, responsibility, and force others to follow them, ” the document says.
The Sandu Code goes on to list what the president should do:
1. To be honest, not to steal, to beat cruelly on the hands of those who rob the people.
2. Work for the benefit of the people. No citizen should live in poverty and fear.
3. Love and respect all people in this country, regardless of nationality, language, religion, age or ideology.
4. Tell the truth, do not lie to people.
5. Restore justice, free institutions and put them at the service of the people.
6. Make decisions only in the interests of people. The president cannot have his own interests.
7. Do not betray people and national interests. Make friends with all countries for the benefit of citizens.
8. Work transparently with the press and citizens. A good president has nothing to hide from people.
9. Protect honest people. Thieves should be in jail. The President is the guarantor of compliance with the law.
10. The president should live modestly as a people. You cannot live in luxury when people are starving.
Although Sand has not yet had to be president, she has already violated certain rules of her own code, moreover, more recently. For example, she went against the first point when she began to cooperate in parliament with the parliamentary group “Pro Moldova”, which was subordinate to the escaped corruptionist Vladimir Plahotniuc. He is a key person involved in the theft of a billion dollars from the country’s banking system and is now hiding in the United States.
The second and sixth paragraphs Sandu violated when, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, she blocked a government package of measures for social support of citizens. The law, among other things, meant the payment of unemployment benefits and an increase in the guaranteed minimum monthly income for each child from 50% to 75%. However, Sandu did everything to get the Constitutional Court to block this aid package.
In addition, in the spring, Sandu again, through the Constitutional Court, prevented Moldova from receiving a loan from Russia in the amount of 200 million euros at 2% per annum, when the republic’s economy, which suffered from a large-scale crisis, needed additional financial injections. At the same time, the current presidential candidate supported receiving money from Western creditors. Thus, Sandu violated the seventh point, putting the interests of her patrons above the national ones.
In his code, Sandu argues that “the president is in no way above the rules.” Nevertheless, as prime minister, she tried to bypass parliament to give herself the right to single-handedly nominate candidates for the post of attorney general. This scandal ultimately deprived Sanda of the prime minister’s chair.
But Sandu has no problems with the tenth point of the code. Her income in 2018, at least officially, amounted to almost 11.8 thousand lei or $ 716. It is unclear how Sandu could have survived an entire year on income that is less than two average monthly salaries. Then this figure was 6.4 thousand lei. In 2019, again in accordance with the official declaration, Sandu earned 160 thousand lei or 9.7 thousand dollars.
“I do not have a salary in the party, because the PDS does not have a budget to pay my salary. Last year I lived off the salary of the prime minister and the deputy. Now I live on the last savings that I made for a long time, ”said Sandu, although earlier there were reports that her party has external support, in particular, George Soros.