Opposition rally in Chisinau ended with the launching of balloons with a cardboard image of Sandu

KISINAU, 25 September – RIA Novosti. A mass rally of the opposition Shor party in Moldova ended with the launching of yellow helium balloons with a cardboard image of President Maia Sandu on them, RIA Novosti correspondent reported.

Another mass protest rally of supporters and opposition representatives was held in the Moldovan capital on Sunday. Protesters are angered by the unprecedented rise in gas, other energy sources and food prices, as well as high inflation and falling living standards. The protesters, who accuse the authorities of not being able to cope with the crisis in the country, point to record inflation in the last 20 years, reaching 33.5% year-on-year in mid-summer. The country’s leadership has been criticized for its reluctance to negotiate better gas prices with Russia and for political pressure on opposition representatives.

“We are sending Maia Sanda to free flight. She did not justify the hopes of those who elected her. No government has had such disastrous results in a year in power,” said the president, one of the protest organizers. Dinu Turcanu from Moldova’s Orhei county threw yellow balloons with a cardboard image of the President into the sky.

Meanwhile, the demonstrators began to set up tents in the courtyard of the presidential administration, but the police intervened and pushed the protesters out of the fence of the area. At one point, a scuffle broke out between protesters and law enforcement. Some demonstrators threw tents over the fence.

The organizers of the action urged people to remain calm. After a short break, the protesters and the police came to a compromise – they set up tents outside the fence of the “presidential palace”.

According to the organizers of the protests, 45,000 people arrived in Chisinau from all parts of Moldova on Sunday, but there should have been more demonstrators.

“About 20,000 people could not get there. Police and other structures were not allowed to attend the rally, which violates their constitutional right to protest,” said Valery Klymenko, honorary chairman of the Shor party.

Earlier, the leader of the political force, Ilan Shor, said during a video broadcast that the protests would continue until the opposition snap election. The politician announced the next mass rally for October 2.

The Shor party was the only political force that officially supported the anti-government protests of the Communists and Socialists Bloc. In June, the party gathered more than 40,000 demonstrators in Chisinau’s main square, expressing their dissatisfaction with the current government. The leader of the political force, Ilan Shor, who left the country after a corruption scandal in 2019, urged his supporters to continue the protests until the country’s leadership resigns.

At the end of July, the Moldovan Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office searched the homes of activists and supporters of the Shor party in case of illegal financing, after which the parliament deprived Marina Tauber, deputy head of the political party, his parliamentary immunity was lifted and on July 23 he was detained for 30 days, the measure was several times extended. On September 14, the politician was placed under house arrest.