Europe Pro-Western President Sandu wins in Moldova
In the run-off election for the presidency in the Republic of Moldova, the pro-Western head of state Maia Sandu has won after almost all votes were counted.
04.11.2024, 00:28
SDA
The 52-year-old received 54.64 percent of the vote, according to the election administration in the capital Chisinau after more than 98 percent of the ballots had been counted. Sandu's challenger, former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, who also wanted to cooperate with Russia, was defeated with 45.36 percent of the vote.
Sandu won mainly thanks to the votes of the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad - mainly in the EU - who traditionally support the politician. In her second term in office, the head of state from the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) wants to push through reforms in the completely impoverished agricultural country, which is a candidate for EU accession. The upcoming parliamentary elections in the summer are seen as the next political challenge. Sandu can only tackle the changes if she defends her current majority in the People's Assembly.
Voter turnout was higher than in the first round on October 20, at over 54 percent. The leadership in Moldova accused Russia of massive interference on election day. The Kremlin had rejected similar accusations during the first round of voting and demanded proof.
Stoianoglo calls on supporters to remain calm
Sandu had already received the most votes (42.45 percent) of the eleven candidates in the first round of voting. Stoianoglo, who ran for the Socialist Party of the pro-Moscow ex-president Igor Dodon, received 25.98 percent.
The 57-year-old, who won the majority in the country itself with 51.19 percent of the vote, also addressed his compatriots in Russian in Chisinau and asked everyone to remain calm. "Moldova needs stability and not an artificial conflict," he said. The time of hatred and division in the country must end. In his home region of Gagauzia, an autonomous region, he even achieved 97.04 percent.
Although Sandu was considered the favorite, she was also criticized for her lack of economic and social progress. Critics accuse her opponent Stoianoglo of being a puppet of corrupt oligarchs and a candidate of Moscow. Like Ukraine, the country is a candidate for EU membership, which is why the West is also keeping a close eye on the results.
Chisinau: Illegal voter transportation
Sandu's national security advisor Stanislav Secrieru accused Russia of massive election interference. He warned on Platform X of the danger of a distorted result. The authorities are alarmed. In the Transnistria region, which has broken away from Moldova and where Russian troops are stationed, there are organized voter transports to the polls; this is illegal, he said.
The confidant of incumbent Sandu also published reports of organized transports from Russia on buses and charter flights that flew voters to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul and the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
Secrieru also published a video circulating on social networks showing people allegedly holding up their Moldovan passports on an airplane en route to Minsk. There had previously been complaints that only two polling stations were open in Moscow for Moldovans living in Russia to vote. The flight was clear evidence of a broadly organized voter transport, said Secrieru.
Violations of electoral law complained of in advance
Security authorities in the capital Chisinau uncovered disinformation and voter buying by pro-Russian forces in advance. Several Russian-language television channels and internet platforms were blocked in the country. On election day itself, people in the capital Chisinau told reporters from Deutsche Presse-Agentur that they had received calls in the past week asking them to vote for Stoianoglo. Some also said that they had been offered money to do so.
Sandu had also spoken of voter buying after the first round of voting. Two weeks ago, she also called a parallel referendum on anchoring the EU course in the country's constitution. The supporters prevailed by a wafer-thin margin and the Constitutional Court confirmed the validity of the result. Russia, on the other hand, wants to keep the agricultural country, which is in demand for its agricultural products such as apples, plums, grapes and nuts, within its sphere of influence.
Moldova has around 2.5 million inhabitants. Hundreds of thousands of Moldovans living abroad - mainly in the EU - and in the breakaway Russian-controlled region of Transnistria were also called to vote.
