The proposal of the capital organization PAS to nominate the current mayor of Staucenu, Alexandru Vornic, as mayor of Chisinau came as a surprise to many. Previously, the authorities named more famous names in the party. And although Vornica’s candidacy has not yet been officially approved and the local elections are more than a year away, experts are already talking about a special PAS strategy for these elections. About why the ruling party should nominate a little-known candidate against the capital’s mayor Ion Ceban (if he runs), and even more than a year before the elections – in the material of NM.
“Surprise” candidate
“Next year we will increase the number of town halls led by PAS representatives. And most importantly. — a PAS representative should head the Chisinau City Hall. The capital must have a pro-European mayor,” said PAS leader Igor Grosu at the party’s anniversary congress on the occasion of its tenth anniversary on June 14. The very next day, June 15, the territorial organization PAS in Chisinau announced the nomination of Stauceni Mayor Alexandru Vornicu as mayor of the capital, who had already thanked his colleagues for their trust. However, we are still talking about the proposal. To be officially nominated, his candidacy must be approved by the party’s permanent bureau.
The initiative to nominate Vornicu came as a surprise to many. In April, Minister of Education and Vice-Chairman of PAS Dan Perciun, speaking about possible party candidates for mayor of the capital, mentioned the names of Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Boli and Minister of Environment Gheorghe Hajder.
Perchun said that PAS is considering several candidates, but a final decision has not yet been made. Bolya, in an interview with Ziarul de Gardă, noted that choosing a party candidate for the post of capital mayor is a long process that should end with a vote within the political formation. And Khazhder, answering questions from journalists, said that he needs to focus on the problems of the Dniester and the continuation of the Moldsilva reform. As a result, PAS probably decided not to nominate party frontmen, but relied on a local elected official.
The capital remains a strategic target for PAS. But the party in power has so far failed to win elections in Chisinau. Mayor Cheban won the election for the first time in 2019. Then in the second round he beat the candidate from the ACUM bloc (PAS+DA Platform) Andrei Năstase. In the last local elections, in 2023, MP Lilian Karp ran for PAS. He scored 28.23% and lost to Cheban in the first round.
Cheban quite consistently criticizes the ruling party. And he uses the Chisinau City Hall, among other things, as a political springboard into national politics. Having won the mayoral elections for the first time, Ceban left the Party of Socialists (PSRM), from which he ran, and later created his own party, the National Alternative Movement (MAN), which positions itself as pro-European.
Judging by the national elections, Chisinau is a pro-European oriented city, so it is likely that the main fight in the second round of elections will be between Ceban and the PAS candidate. However, experts allow other scenarios.
Candidate from the ground
Alexandru Vornicu became mayor of the Chisinau suburb of Stauceni for the first time in 2019. Then he ran from the ACUM bloc (PAS + Platform DA) and scored 53.84% in the second round, beating the candidate from the Liberal Party. In 2023, he won in the first round with 78.73% of the votes. PAS calls Stavčeny a “showcase” and Vornica an example of how a European city should be run.
Apparently, this is why the party decided to nominate him for the post of mayor of the capital, suggests Doctor of Political Sciences Angela Kolatsky. “PAS decided to be guided by the fact that local elections are not political. People choose not a party, but a specific person. Therefore, they apparently relied on a candidate “from the ground,” the expert suggested.
But, in her opinion, such a strategy carries many risks, since the elections of the mayor of a small locality and the mayor of the capital are very different: “In Chisinau, an element of politics still remains.”
Vorniku is a little-known person in metropolitan politics. And now it depends on the party in power what kind of image they will create for him in the remaining year before the local elections scheduled for the fall of 2027. Traditionally, PAS keeps the intrigue longer, but now the name of a potential candidate has been announced in advance. “Perhaps they will test this candidate for now. They will look at the public reaction, at the impression he creates. I don’t rule out that they may change the candidate,” Kolatsky said. Moreover, the expert admits that a stronger candidate from other political formations may also join the fight, but it is still very early to name specific names.
Lightning Rod Candidate
Political analyst Jan Lisniewski even suggests that Vornicu is a distracting candidate, “a lightning rod for Ceban.” “In elections in the capital, you either bet on a 100 percent victory or nominate a candidate who will not interfere with another convenient candidate. Considering that PAS and MAN in Chisinau are competing for the same electorate, I admit that Vornicu is needed to distract Ceban from the real candidate, whom the party in power will support from the shadows,” Lisnevsky believes.
He suggests that closer to the election race we will see another, truly strong candidate, who will be opposed to Cheban without a direct connection with the party in power. “And this candidate will have everything: photographs with Maia Sandu, and meetings with European partners,” the expert concluded.
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