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Moldova 1 Refused to Grant One Hour of Airtime per Week to PAS and PPDA. The Two Parties Announced New Protests for October 1

02 October 2017
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The management of Moldova 1 TV station has rejected the request of Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) and Dignity and Truth Platform Party (PPDA) to grant one hour of airtime per week to “the real opposition.” Unhappy with the response from the national television, the leaders of PAS and PPDA announced new protests for October 1.
 
The official reply of the national public broadcaster to the leaders of PAS and PPDA was posted on the television’s website on September 22. The reply was signed by Teleradio Moldova [public broadcasting company] president Olga Bordeianu and Moldova 1 director Ecaterina Stratan. Moldova 1 announced it could not grant one hour of airtime to the opposition and referred to the provisions of article 7 of the Broadcasting Code regarding the granting of airtime to political parties.
 
“According to the legal norms specified, the administration of public television will not admit pressure or illegal interference in its editorial activity and independence, regardless of what authority or party it comes from,” the Teleradio Moldova reply says.
 
The public television’s administration has assured the PAS and PPDA representatives that their work “will still be covered objectively and fairly in newscasts and debates shows.”
 
The station’s administration also announced that it will organize a meeting with party leaders to discuss future cooperation, and beginning next week, representatives of extra-parliamentary parties will be invited to the “Moldova Live” [„Moldova în direct”] show.
 
PAS and PPDA leaders expressed their dissatisfaction with Moldova 1 reply at a joint press conference on September 23. PAS leader Maia Sandu said she got no clear answer to the request to grant one hour of airtime for the opposition that has “real popular support,” so both parties will hold new protests in response to the reaction of the institution. PPDA leader Andrei Nastase said the protest will start on October 1 in front of Gaudeamus cinema. The two politicians said they will keep insisting on airtime for the opposition in order to cover public television, the publication of the Kroll report, the sanctioning of all culprits and the need to give up the mixed electoral system.
 
Previously, Moldova 1 released an appeal disagreeing with what it perceived as PAS and PPDA attempts at “discrediting and defaming the image of national television through aggressive pressure and interference in its editorial policy.” The appeal was released in the aftermath of PAS and PPDA protests of September 17, where participants asked the public broadcaster to grant one hour per week of airtime for the opposition.