The Democrats Must Cooperate

Abstract

Iurie Rosca is the chairman of the Christian Democratic People's Party (PPCD) of Moldova, the main opposition party in parliament. Active in independence and anticommunist issues since 1988, Rosca was a leader at the Popular Front of the Moldavian SSR, the forerunner to the PPCD. This interview was conducted in Chisinau on September 1, 2004, by Demokratizatsiya founder Fredo Arias-King. Demokratizatsiya: You are the leader of the largest opposition to the Communist Party in parliament. The possibility for the PPCD to form an alliance with other non-communist forces, such as Moldova Democrata, after the next elections is often speculated both inside Moldova and in other countries. In my interview with Dumitru Braghis yesterday, he mentioned that he is not against entering into an alliance, after the elections, with the PPCD to build a government. At the same time, he did not see it as a real possibility to build such an alliance with the Communists. Is the PPCD also prepared in that case to enter into an alliance with Moldova Democrata to form a government? Rosca: Absolutely. Absolutely and without any reservations we are ready to form an alliance with them. I am very glad that the leader of that bloc finally has said what he kept quiet for a long time. We can form that alliance on the basis of a few reform principles for a successful transition, mostly having to do with the strengthening of democratic institutions and reforms in Moldova. And the third element concerns the foreign relations of the country, namely integration with the West. Demokratizatsiya: You have become quite popular among some circles in Washington, DC, and in Brussels as the leader of the anticommunist opposition in Moldova. Do you think that the West has helped the situation in Moldova in the last two years, since you began an international campaign to obtain more attention for the Moldovan opposition in places like Washington and the European capitals? Rosca: Yes, I feel that our work has been enhanced since we became members of the Christian Democracy International in 1999 and partners of the European People's Party. Since then I have had, and so have my colleagues, many trips abroad, such as last year's trips to Washington, those to Brussels, London, Rome, Paris, Madrid, and Lisbon, with our Christian Democracy International. Thanks to that cooperation at the European level, we managed to strengthen our position in the European Parliament and also in the Council of Europe. Today everybody in Europe as well as America knows that our country is under a Communist dictatorship, but also that there is a democratic party called PPCD that struggles for democratic freedoms, for a law-based state, and tot a European find Euro-Atlantic orientation. We are very content that our Western partners fully trust us and our political positions, specifically on the political issues and issues connected to European organizations. The European Parliament and the Council of Europe always support us. What concerns our contacts in Washington, I think, is that our meetings there last year were important in the sense that our country, which is very small and poorly known, at least was noticed. Everyone that we met received both in verbal and written form our positions concerning the antidemocratic activities of our government and also information about the Russian military occupation of part of our country, and the so-called federalization plan. I think that without this international support and without those efforts, which were supported by our foreign friends, we would not have succeeded in countering Russia's imperial tendencies, the destruction of our state, and the annulment of our declaration of independence and our constitution. In the last three years there have been many successes for the PPCD, as we were able to stop many ill-intentioned plans of the Communist authorities and their masters in Moscow. Demokratizatsiya: Why do you think that other circles, such as those in the State Department--including the former ambassador here, who never even invited you for a one-on-one meeting with her--and the OSCE, were more critical of you and your work? …