The Republic of
\nMoldova last weekend saw a new round of local elections with political and
\ngeopolitical stakes. Observers with the Promo Lex Association have reported
\nover 300 incidents on election day, such as organized transport of voters to
\npolling stations or incentives given to voters such as gifts. The Central
\nElection Commission however said these offences will not impact the final
\nresults. As anticipated by various surveys, Igor Dodon’s Socialist Party
\ngrabbed the highest number of votes. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The left-wing pro-Moscow party won the election
\nin Balti, the second-largest city and in Orhei, central Moldova. In Balti,
\ncurrently home to a large Russian-speaking population, Renato Usatyi has won a
\nsecond term in office, after fleeing the country to avoid prosecution at the
\nend of his first term. Orhei, on the other hand, so far with controversial
\nbusinessman and politician Ilan Sor at its helm, who received a first-instance
\nconviction in the bank fraud case of 2014, elected Pavel Verejanu as its mayor
\nwith over 70% of the vote. In turn, the Democratic Party, controlled by
\ncontroversial oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc
\nhas won 130 of the total of 898 city halls in the first round, which is
\nan unexpectedly good result. In the capital-city Chisinau, housing a third of
\nthe Republic’s population and accounting for half of the country’s GDP, the
\nmayor will be decided after a second ballot, to be held on November 3. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Socialist Ion Ceban, a close associate of President Dodon, will be facing the
\ncurrent Interior Minister Andrei Nastase in the runoff. Ceban grabbed 40% of
\nthe vote, while Nastase 30%, which is the same score as last year, when Natase
\nwon the election but the results were invalidated. The former Liberal Mayor of
\nChisinau between 2007-2017, Dorin Chirtoaca, won some 10% of the vote, urging
\nhis constituents to vote against Ceban in the second round. Pundits believe
\nCeban is unlikely to rally any additional support, considering Chisinau’s overt
\npro-Western affiliation, a city that has never elected pro-Russian mayors and
\nhalf of whose population still argue in favor of a reunification with Romania.
\nThis is why many expect Andrei Nastase to rely on the support of the entire
\nright wing and win the election comfortably. <\/p>\n
(translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The capital city of Moldova Chisinau will decide its future mayor in the second round of local elections<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":70165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[33676,39790,29336,29130,39791,39789,39792],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-83443","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-andrei-nastase","tag-ilan-sor","tag-local-elections","tag-moldova","tag-pavel-verejanu","tag-renato-usatyi","tag-second-round-of-election"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n