Moldova’s Election: A Showdown and a Possible Rethink
Ah, Moldova! A country that sounds like it’s just come from a word scramble of Eastern Europe. On Sunday, November 3, in a twist that would make even the most jaded political analyst raise an eyebrow, the second round of presidential elections took place. We had the incumbent, Maya Sandu, battling it out with the former prosecutor general, Aleksandr Stoyanoglo. It’s like “The Good, the Bad, and the Office Politics” over there!
Polling stations shut their doors at 9 p.m., and boy, the results came in fast enough to make you question whether they’d just swapped ballot boxes with a bingo hall! Voter turnout hit a respectable 54%—that’s 1.6 million Moldovans putting their names on the electoral map, which is quite impressive considering they’ve got more pressing matters, like finding the best places for blinis!
As counting commenced, the numbers didn’t lie: Stoyanoglo snagged about 45% while Sandu scored 55%. Now, hold your horses! Before we unpack that, let’s take a glance at what led us here. Just weeks earlier, in the first round, it was Sandu who was the belle of the ballot box with 42.5%. Meanwhile, Stoyanoglo could only muster up about 26%. But that’s politics for you! One minute you’re the darling of the people; the next, you’re dodging tomatoes at a rally.
Now, speaking of dynamics, observers expressed their fears (as if they were watching a horror film) about Sandu’s chances in this decisive round. Despite leading the scoreboard, they whispered about her shaky footing—her fan club of potential voters being as limited as a thrift shop on clearance day!
Let’s not forget Moldova’s governmental structure! A parliamentary republic, where the president often has the power of a wet tissue. But with Sandu’s party, Action and Solidarity, holding the reins in parliament, she’s been riding higher than a kite on a windy day. However, in politics, when it rains, it pours—next year holds the significant parliamentary elections, and this current campaign has been viewed as the ultimate dress rehearsal. I don’t know which is scarier, the impending results or the thought of politicians in ill-fitting gowns!
Now, back to Sandu—she’s the poster child for pro-European Moldova, flaunting her closeness with the EU like it’s the latest fashion trend. After all, she did secure candidate status for EU membership during her presidency. Bonus points for her! Too bad that while she was busy playing the diplomatic game, a lackluster referendum flopped right under her nose. A measly 50.4% jumped on board for constitutional changes meant to support her European integration dreams. It’s a bit like throwing a surprise party and forgetting the guest of honor!
But hold the press! Opponent Stoyanoglo isn’t quite the villain you’d think—he, too, claims to support European integration. However, his flirting with the idea of negotiating with Putin has got people rolling their eyes like they just heard a dad joke. And have we mentioned the Party of Socialists? Yep, they threw their hat in the Stoyanoglo ring and have close ties to Moscow—because, who doesn’t love a bit of geopolitical intrigue?
Now, here’s where the plot thickens! Enter “Shor’s Network”—no, it’s not a new sitcom, but a voter-buying scheme set up by the elusive fugitive Ilan Shor, who’s chilling in Moscow like a celebrity on holiday. His network influences voter decisions like a soap opera plot twist, leaving analysts scratching their heads and frantically counting the ballots.
Despite the law enforcement’s best efforts to expose Shor’s web of influence, those wow-factor ballot box stories just can’t be wiped out. Maya’s camp is convinced the network will swing all votes to Stoyanoglo. Yet, Stoyanoglo’s crew frothily denies playing in the mud with Shor—classic political dance! Meanwhile, Shor himself is out there dropping hints on which “anti-Sandu” candidate the public should vote for, as if he’s choosing the next reality show winner.
Polling stations opened their doors early, treated like popular bakeries with a fresh batch of bread, attracting about a million Moldovans who live abroad. And let’s not forget the numbers from the diaspora. These votes could give Sandu the additional push she needs, like putting the cherry on an already splendid cake! In the first round, her overseas supporters were mighty loud, showing up strong for her EU aspirations!
But, as tensions brew, with whispers of Russian attempts to disrupt voting at foreign locations, we might be in for a rollercoaster of results. We see large populations living abroad and every vote counts. It’s like a high-stakes poker game, and let’s just say, everyone’s got their poker face on!
So, as we peel back the layers of this election and all its quirks, we sit back, popcorn in hand, waiting for the political drama to unfold. What will become of Moldova? Will they soar into European arms, or will they take a detour to Moscow? Stay tuned, folks!
Photo caption, The flag of the European Union is painted on the road and “European Moldova” is written in RomanianArticle information
On Sunday, November 3, the second round of presidential elections took place in Moldova. The current head of state Maya Sandu and Aleksandr Stoyanoglo – the former prosecutor general, whom Sandu scandalously removed from office in 2021, made it to the finals of the election campaign.
In Moldova, polling stations closed at 9 p.m. and counting began, voting is still ongoing abroad. The turnout was as much as 54% – 1.6 million voters, which is a hundred thousand more than in the first round.
According to the calculation of almost 99% of precincts, Stoyanoglo gains 45%, and Sandu – 55%.
In the first round, which took place two weeks ago, Sandu, who was considered the favorite in the election, won 42.5% of the vote. Almost 26% of Moldovans voted for her opponent.
Despite these results, observers were afraid to call Maya Sanda the favorite of the decisive vote, pointing out that her reserve for expanding the electorate is extremely small, and the anti-rating, on the contrary, is about 50%.
Caption of the photo, Maya Sandu near the podium
Moldova is a parliamentary republic, and formally the president has symbolic powers. In the case of Sandu, this rule does not work: in the 2021 elections, her Action and Solidarity party won an absolute majority in parliament, and she, in fact, oversees the work of Dorin Rechan’s government.
In addition, the current campaign is seen by many observers as a dress rehearsal for the crucial parliamentary elections that must be held next year.
Maya Sanda is considered the leader of the pro-Western wing of the Moldovan political scene. She built her campaign around almost the only notable achievement of her presidential term – the rapprochement of Moldova with the European Union. It was during her presidency that Chisinau officially received the status of a candidate for EU membership.
Simultaneously with the first round of elections, a referendum initiated by Sandu’s team was held in the country on changes in the country’s constitution, which relate to the future European integration of Moldova.
The plebiscite, which was intended to mobilize Sandu voters, almost turned out to be a failure: only 50.4% of voters voted for amendments to the basic law, and this hardly strengthened Sandu’s political position before the second round.
Caption to the photo, Poster with the image of Alexander Stoyanoglo
Alexander Stoianoglo also calls himself a supporter of Moldova’s European integration. At the same time, a number of his statements – about the readiness of negotiations with Vladimir Putin and his intentions to restore air connections between Moldova and Russia – give many observers a reason to call him a pro-Russian politician.
In addition, the largest opposition force in the country – the Party of Socialists – nominated Stoyanoglo for the presidency. Their leader Ihor Dodon met with Vladimir Putin more than once and expressed support for his policies.
In any case, Stoyanoglo built his campaign on criticism of the achievements of the current government in the field of economy, social policy and the fight against corruption.
photo caption A semi-transparent ballot box in Moldova
Moldovan sociologists refrained from unequivocal predictions of the results of the second round of elections – in particular, due to the “Shor network” factor, which is not amenable to sociological assessment.
The multi-level system of buying voters’ votes, which was built by fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who is now in Moscow, is called “Shor’s network” in Moldova. The number of ballots controlled by Shor, convicted in the case of theft of a billion dollars from the banking system of Moldova, is estimated at tens of thousands (Maya Sandu says about an attempt to buy 300 thousand votes), which, without a doubt, is a huge number for the country.
About 1.5 million voters took part in the first round of the presidential elections. In recent weeks, Moldovan law enforcement agencies have conducted hundreds of searches across the country related to voter bribery schemes. But, the Moldovan authorities conclude, it was not possible to completely neutralize the value of this factor with such methods.
Sandu’s headquarters declares that in the second round “Shor’s network” will work in favor of her opponent. Stoyanoglo’s associates do not deny the existence of the “network”, but angrily reject any agreements with Shor. Shor himself denies that he ever bought anyone’s votes, but in an appeal published on the eve of the election, he urged Moldovans to vote on November 3 “against Maia Sandu, for any candidate you see on the ballot.”
Almost two thousand polling stations in Moldova opened at 7 in the morning and worked until 9 in the evening. Another 234 polling stations were opened abroad – they will become another important factor capable of influencing the voting results.
Being one of the poorest countries in Europe, Moldova has a huge diaspora. The number of Moldovans living outside the borders of their homeland is estimated at about a million people – and this with the population of Moldova itself at about 2.5 million people.
Two weeks ago, diaspora votes accounted for more than 16% of the total. Thanks to the fact that most of the overseas polling stations were opened in the countries of Western Europe, it was the votes of Moldovans abroad that determined the positive result of the referendum on European integration. More than 70% of Moldovans abroad voted for Maya Sanda in the first round of the presidential elections. Additional mobilization of this category of voters can significantly increase its chances of re-election.
Sources of the Reuters agency in the Moldovan authorities said that, according to their information, Russia will try to disrupt voting at foreign polling stations – in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Canada, Romania, the USA and Great Britain. False reports about the mining of precincts will allegedly be received there.
