Another half-full glass

No matter what you think about the stupidity of the 40% of Moldovans who voted for the Communists, there is one aspect which should make every Moldovan very very proud.


It's the way the election was conducted:

• real pluralism of opinions and options
• a mainly free media (NIT and omg.md excepted)
• a high voter turnout
• commitment from overseas voters, who had to endure long, cold queues
• intelligent voting (in the sense of ignoring side-shows)

Now that Georgia has left the organisation and Ukraine has back-pedalled on a number of freedoms, Moldova is now clearly the leading democracy in the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Even the Russians are noticing; a team of journalists in Chisinau for the elections were amazed at the vigorous debates, the freedom with which people expressed their opinions and the desire of Moldovans to cast a vote and make a difference.  All very very different to how things are back home.  Russian speakers can find the relevant article here.

Take a bow, Moldova!

(Then get quickly back to thinking about how to stop the Democrats going into a miserable coalition with the Communists)