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Maia Sandu : a light through mud and tears

This page is personal and does not come from any political party. I take the liberty to express my thoughts and impressions about Maia Sandu.

She was Prime Minister of the Moldovan government from June to November 2019. Under her pro European government, a breath of fresh air miraculously blew over the devastated lands and cities of her good and generous people.

I do not know Maia Sandu personally, and I will probably never meet her. But it seems to me my duty as a European citizen to make her known and to make known Moldova, her country, which she perfectly embodies.

Because Maia Sandu is now at the forefront of the battle for democraty and liberty in Eastern Europe, in Moldova.

Since the fall of her government we are witnessing a “triumph of scoundrels”, to use the correct expression of the Romanian thinker Gabriel Liiceanu, who knew what he was talking about when he referred to the confiscation of the Romanian revolution of 1989 by the crypto-communists.

The painful scene in the parliament of Chisinau on November 12, 2019 remains in my memory indelibly: vicious, tragic and comic moment, when Maia Sandu, like the Antigone of Greek antiquity, worthy and true, confronts the monsters, without fear.

Here's to the mud and the darkness.

Tears, I see them in millions of lives.

I am a lucid optimist. I still believe in the awareness of this Moldovan people, inside the country and in its diaspora, and in their desire to vote, to resist, to protest.

Ultimately, only these people can take their destiny in hand if part of the state is corrupt.

By going to vote.

Lucidity leads me to think that in the absence of spontaneous generation in life as in politics, time plays a determining role. Indeed, it seems unlikely that in one year, until the presidential elections of December 2020, there will be a total, radical transfiguration of the Moldovan political environment (parties), of the associative world (associations, unions ...), due to the establishment of an authoritarian regime of type Plahotniuc or other type by “mutation”. Such a form of governance, like all authoritarian regimes, atomizes society and reinforces the antagonisms within it, as we see today, on issues of languages, cultures, education, lifestyles, etc.

The case of Romania and neighboring states shows that these developments towards democracy take years.

Time must be given to Maia Sandu, currently in opposition, to rebuild the Republic of Moldova on the basis of old promises and real hope, as defined by Vaclav Havel: that which makes citizens act together for a common goal.

Among the tears and the mud, in exceptional circumstances, when a people has lost all hope, once a century or less, appears a providential person who rebuilds everything and reconstructs hope as I defined it.

This type of person appears in ancient societies, sometimes as a prophet, sometimes as a being endowed with exceptional moral values ​​and extremely high human traits, joined to humility and simplicity. We have seen examples in the history of France, with Joan of Arc (when part of the country was dominated by the English), in the troubled times of Stephen the Great in Moldova, or even in the last century with the General de Gaulle (when France was occupied and on its knees). And even then we are never sure, see the case of Hitler in Germany in the 1930s; the savior can become a dictator, a monster.

As far from us as Joan of Arc, Stephen the Great or de Gaulle may be, let us recognize that these people have never betrayed their own country by collaborating with its enemies, by acting against its interests, by dismembering it ignobly.

In the case of Moldova, this dedicated and expected person has already come, she appeared, she stayed 5 months at the head of the government, the people loved her, she worked, she had no time , she apparently disappeared but she is present, she exists and will exist.

She is a walking force.

This person could be the solution, but neither as a saint, nor as a martyr, nor as an idol: purely and simply as a conscience of these Moldavian times of now.

If it were a woman, Maia Sandu, I would be happier, because women, often, much faster and much more deeply give meaning to life when life has lost its meaning and has become absurd.

Michel Wattremez

English version and revision EN-GB by Michel Wattremez, Madrid, 01/01/2020, posted on Facebook; revision Elisa London, New York, 01/01/2020, for EN-US version. Written and posted in Romanian on 12/18/2019, Paris. Tribute to Maia Sandu.

Maia Sandu's Speech, 12/10/2019
Romanian and French subtitles

Moldova, Maia Sandu: the Great Man is a Woman
(posted on Facebook by Michel Wattremez, 5 and 29 March 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu)

Total shared links: 1873

I posted twice this picture of Maia Sandu, which I modified from a photograph taken on television. I cropped her silhouette (and her face with a very discreet makeup) without any touch up.

I added the yellow and blue background colors. The effect highlights the intelligent beauty and simple elegance of the character. This is not my least favorite photo of Maia Sandu.

There is absolutely nothing ironic about the French title. Through the text and the image my intention was to express three clear ideas:

 1. This woman is great  because by definition she is able to do everything (president, prime minister...), and free to choose when she sees fit.

2. This woman is intellectually and morally superior to all the politicians in her country, including at the top.

3. This sometimes unfairly disparaged woman counteracts negative views of many stubborn stereotypes linked to women in too many countries.

Brave Women

Inés Arrimadas (Spain), Maia Sandu (Moldova), Angela Merkel (Germany).

Beyond political sensibilities, a special tribute to Madam Maia Sandu, former Prime Minister of Moldova, who is fighting bravely on 2 fronts: for Democracy, against cowardice and roguery. Michel Wattremez.

Photos: aknowlegement to PAS (Maia Sandu, www.unpaspentru.md), Carlos Teixidor Cadenas (Inés Arrimadas, 23.02.2019, Madrid, Ciudadanos, www.commons.wikimedia.org), Tobias Koch (Angelas Merkel, 10.09.2014, Berlin, Bundestag, www.fr.wikipedia.org), resized.

Montage and titles: Michel Wattremez. Posted on Facebook, October 2019, renewed in April 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu.

Let Her Go On Lightning Up the Path !

Posted on Facebook, 17 March 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu. Photo Pas Youth, Instagram, acknowledgment.

Maia Sandu's photo is cropped and extracted from a real photo on a path in a humble village in Moldova, near Hincesti (15 February morning), during the new parliamentary elections campaign.

Slight retouching on the stones.

My idea was to express a lunar contrast on two shots, this one and the one beyond.

I adore this photo, it expresses a lot about Maia Sandu, even if we do not see her face.

I realized and posted this picture on Facebook, from Madrid, 2020/04/11, during the period of confinement, as a tribute to Maia Sandu.

I built the landscape with elements from around the world. Basicaly the idea was to emphazize not only on Maia Sandu's experience, courage and far vision, but also on the imperative need for the Moldovans to join her by voting for her "en masse" and going beyond lyricism and resignation.

Because Maia Sandu cannot do anything alone and needs the support of her whole community in order to succeed. "I urge you to take a step with me", she said already on December 23, 2015.

I voluntarily left the side of the road in violent white because only in a state weeded of corruption the people of Moldova will be able to build everything that contributes to well-being while respecting the world and the living.

Maia Sandu, the most serious alternative for Moldova and Europe

What the Republic of Moldova urgently needs is an intelligent and courageous woman, able to cooperate with her homologs of the great democracies, capable to rebuild a breathless state and society on values of action, solidarity, dignity, truth, justice, freedom, responsibility - and definitely not a bunch of corrupt politicians, incompetent and sprawled on obsolete privileges.

MW Facebook, Madrid, 14 April 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu

Moldova: Maia Sandu, One and Indivisible

"There is only one Moldova: the one that Moldovans love. And there is only one Maia Sandu..."

 Posted in English and 7 other languages, Facebook, Madrid, 7 April 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu

- RO - Există o singură Moldova: Moldova pe care Moldovenii o iubesc. Și există o singură Maia Sandu.

- FR - Il n'existe qu'une seule Moldavie: celle que les Moldaves aiment. Et il n'existe qu'une Maia Sandu.
- EN - There is only one Moldova: the one that Moldovans love. And there is only one Maia Sandu.
- IT - Non c'è solo una Moldavia: quella che gli moldavi amano. E c'è solo una Maia Sandu.
- ES - Solo hay una Moldavia: la que quieren los moldavos. Y solo hay una Maia Sandu.
- PT - Só existe uma Moldávia: aquela que os moldavos amam. E só há uma Maia Sandu.
- DE - Es gibt nur ein Moldawien: das Moldawien, das die Moldauer lieben. Und es gibt nur eine Maia Sandu.
- RU - Есть только одна Молдова: та, которую любят молдаване. И есть только одна Майя Санду.

Anniversary of Maia Sandu's PAS party (2016-2020)

MW Facebook, Madrid, May 15, 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu.

Quoting Neil Armstrong walking on the moon on July 20, 1969: "one small step for a man, one giant leap for Moldova".

Maia Sandu's Birthday

MW Facebook, May 24, 2020, tribute to Maia Sandu.

Music: Felix Mendelssohn, The Hebrides, Op. 26, sonate,  also called Hebrides Overture, Fingal’s Cave, 1832. 

I made this short video on April 24, 2020.

Over 10.000 views.

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIN, September-November 2020

Campaign for the first round of the Moldavan Presidential election (1st November 2020)

Maia Sandu, The True Face Of Moldova

     Maia Sandu: "Please, Draw Me a Litte Country"

Campaign for the second round of the Moldavan Presidential election (15th November 2020)

After 15th November 2020: Life Goes On 

Maia Sandu's party: Partidul Acțiune și Solidaritate (Action and Solidarity)

/ Moldova - mica Europă /

Europa este o "comunitate a solidarității, a unității în diversitate", impregnată de valorile de libertate, pace și democrație - astfel o definește recent preşedinta Maia Sandu.

Dincolo de munca colosală, juridică și structurală, realizată din ianuarie 2020 și în continuare în vederea aderării Republicii Moldova la Uniunea Europeană (ceea ce mie îmi reamintește prin multe aspecte opera de ctititor a lui Alexandru Ioan Cuza întemeiând România modernă), esenţialul, cred, este faptul că noi europenii din democraţiile consolidate care nu au trecut prin calvarul istoric al basarabenilor, ne regăsim în Republica Moldova propria noastră diversitate atât de complexă și bogată, care ne definește esenţial, și care merge mult mai dincolo de posturile politice actuale (centrul dreapta, stânga, patrioţii...), miza fiind cum această Uniune poate funcționa la 37, eficient și democratic, în pace și securitate - reformându-se, în vederea prosperităţii drepte și durabile, spre binele comun.

În Republica Moldova la fel fiecare cetățean se poate regăsi în Moldova Europeană și în UE /pe tot spectrul/, după interes, valori, sensibilitate.

Cel mai valoros lucru pe care îl putem pierde nu este atât confortul, cât libertatea, independența și spiritul nostru.

Mai este mult de făcut pentru a-i convinge pe scepticii deschiși, și o facem precis pentru că este greu și are sens.

Moldova este o mică Europă, și Europa este așa cum o facem noi.

Mândru de o astfel de președintă. Proud of such a president. mw 27/1/2024

Montaj și retusuri: mw

Updated 03/02/2024