VIP Magazin publishes list of 50 most influential Moldovans in 2011

On Tuesday, December 27, VIP Magazin published its traditional Top 50 Most Influential Moldovans list for 2011, Info-Prim Neo reports. The top 10 positions are occupied by Vlad Filat and Marian Lupu, who shared the 1st and 2nd places, followed by Mihai Ghimpu, Vlad Plahotniuc, Dorin Chirtoaca, Vladimir Voronin, Igor Dodon, Anatol and Gabriel Stati, Iurie Leanca and the Metropolitan of Moldova Vladimir. The new names that made the top 50 this year are: Oleg Efrim (41st), Catalin Giosan (42nd) and Vitalie Marinuta (49th). The most spectacular fallings in the list since 2010 have been those of Dumitru Diacov (from 15th to 33rd) and of Mark Tkaciuc (from 13th to 32nd). Illan Shor impressively rose from 34th in 2010 to 18th in 2011. Info-Prim Neo news agency was requested by the magazine to contribute to the list in the “Experts’ Opinion” column. Below are some excerpts: [1. Alexandru Tanase, chairman of the Constitutional Court.] He influenced the course of political stars in a way that helped him move efficiently and smartly from a high social position to an even higher one, without steps and transition. This makes him the only (former) politician in Moldova that has chances to return to the big politics and run for the highest posts, including that of president of Moldova. [2. Vlad Filat, Prime Minister of Moldova, head of the Liberal-Democratic Party.] He knew how to influence and control the chaos in Moldova and created some order in this chaos. It’s not known to what extent the chaos was created by himself, if not all of it. He influenced the public opinion so that he remained the first among the top politicians. He proved there are no irreplaceable people, replacing the “eternal” Vladimir Voronin on “top of Olympus”. It’s not clear if he is not paving the way to Olympus for another Vlad/Vladimir. [3. Vlad Pahotniuc, First Deputy Speaker, vice president of the Democratic Party.] He was able to influence and control, without obvious administrative tools, that part of chaos outside Vlad Filat’s control. Once again, he may be responsible for a big part of this chaos or even all of it. He created the second level of control over this chaos. He influenced the public opinion in a way that made him present everywhere, but without leaving “traces”. [4. Marian Lupu, Speaker and interim President of Moldova, head of the Democratic Party.] He influenced political odds so that he remained the eternal candidate to the highest position in the state, even when the odds where against him. [5. Iurie Leancă, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration.] Influenced the public opinion in the country sufficiently to remain among the top politicians. He also influenced the representatives of international actors, especially Moldova’s development partners. This was enough to obtain praise for the democratization efforts in the country. This appreciation usually turns into financial help or declarations of support. His effort is all the more praiseworthy when considering he didn’t have the internal support either through reforms or political stability. [6. Dorin Chirtoaca, Mayor of Chisinau, vice president of the Liberal Party.] He was able to attract over half of the voters and win the Chisinau City Hall despite strong competition, the stake of which was more than just the mayor’s seat. He brought 100 new modern and comfortable trolleybuses. These are one of the few signs of change in ordinary people’s lives and boost the mayor’s influence among people with various political preferences. [7. Igor Dodon, member of the Moldovan Parliament.] During the race for the Chisinau mayor’s office, he managed to influence a significant number of voters outside the traditional Communist voter base with a modernized message. He was approved by a big part of society for starting the demolition from within of the Communists’ Party, which was labeled as “anti-system” because of the intransigence of its leaders. [8. Vladimir Voronin, head of the Communists’ Party of Moldova] He has a big influence in the Communists’ Party, which influences nearly half of the voters. [9. Mark Tcaciuc, member of the Moldovan Parliament.] Has a big influence over Vladimir Voronin. [10. Valeriu Strelet, head of the Liberal-Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction.] Managed to replace several important names that left PLDM (Alexandru Tanase, Mihai Godea, Vitalie Nagacevschi). [Valeriu Vasilica, Info-Prim Neo]