VZCZCXRO0902
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHCH #0580 1561214
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041214Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY CHISINAU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6731
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS CHISINAU 000580 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/UMB AND DRL/AE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM MD
SUBJECT: New Opposition Party Alleges High Levels of Intimidation 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please Protect Accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The National Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova 
(PLDM), established in January, has accused the ruling Party of 
Communists of harassment, and the Christian Democrats and Democratic 
Party of false charges of corruption and member-buying.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Sniping began not long after the PLDM was registered on 
January 25, 2008.  In March, Democratic Party (PD) leader Dumitru 
Diacov (whose party Filat deserted last year) and Christian Democrat 
(PPCD) leader Iurie Rosca accused Filat of bribing other parties' 
members to join PLDM.  On March 28, Rosca accused Filat of 
corruption, fraud and mismanagement while director of the 
Privatization Department between 1998 and 1999, and urged the 
Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) and the Center for Combating 
Economic Crimes and Corruption (CCECC) to launch an investigation. 
On April 2, two corruption cases were opened against Filat; the PLDM 
was also charged with document fraud that day.  President Voronin 
has regularly described Filat as the "creature" of Valeriu Pasat, 
former Security and Information Service (SIS) director and former 
Minister of Defense. 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) In a May 23 conversation with us, Filat stated that more 
than 1,000 party members had been interviewed by low-level employees 
of the PGO, after authorities had taken their names and addresses 
from party registration documents.  According to Filat, party 
members were asked whether they had received money to join the 
party, why they had left their previous parties, and what they 
discussed at PLDM meetings.  PLDM members of local councils were 
questioned about the party's financial sources.  No charges were 
made, but, according to Filat, the interviews were a form of 
intimidation, a violation of citizens' freedom of association, and 
part of a larger campaign to discourage opposition parties before 
March 2009 parliamentary elections. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Under Moldovan law, financial or other inducements to join 
a party are not illegal.  Police are allowed to question citizens in 
relation to a case, and are within their rights to extract names 
from a party-founders' petition, and present those names to the PGO, 
which issues subpoenas for questioning.  Filat claims that low-level 
PGO officials are not qualified to do the questioning.  Citizens who 
are questioned have the right to remain silent and have a lawyer 
present during the interview.  Only if a citizen is named as a 
suspect or a witness can he or she appeal to the courts, but 
interviewees have the right to protest abuse committed by officials 
during questioning.  In short, the GOM appears to be using legal 
fact-finding powers to frighten members of a particular political 
party. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Comment:  Politics in Moldova can be a rough game, and 
local and international election observers have regularly noted the 
ruling party's intimidation of voters and misuse of administrative 
resources.  Anxiety in the Party of Communists about its fall in 
vote share since 2005 may increase such activities.  However, the 
fact that these charges are widely reported in the media shows that 
Moldova is making progress in opening such matters to public debate. 
 End comment. 
 
Kirby