Pro-EU party leads in Moldova parliamentary election

Preliminary election results show the president’s centre-right party leading with more than 44 percent of votes.

Politics 11:00 12.07.2021
President Maia Sandu’s pro-European party is leading in Moldova’s elections as vote counting is under way in Sunday’s snap parliamentary elections she called to shore up her position against pro-Russia forces.
 
With more than 40 percent of the ballots counted, Sandu’s centre-right Action and Solidarity (PAS) party secured more than 44 percent of the votes, according to the electoral commission.
 
The party’s main rivals from the coalition of socialists and Communists led by former Kremlin-backed President Igor Dodon and former President Vladimir Voronin had nearly 33 percent of the votes.
 
Casting her ballot in the capital Chisinau, Sandu said she had voted for change in the ex-Soviet country beset by poverty and corruption.
 
“I voted for an honest parliament to work with, for a parliament that will appoint honest people, competent people,” Sandu told journalists after voting.
 
Her predecessor Dodon, whom she defeated last year, warned against voting for those who will “hand over the country to external control” as he cast his ballot.
Wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, the country of about 2.6 million has long been divided over closer ties with the European Union or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
 
With lawmakers loyal to Dodon blocking Sandu’s promises of reform after her election win in November, she dissolved Parliament in April and scheduled the snap vote.
 
The 49-year-old former World Bank economist’s promises of honesty and competence resonated with many Moldovans, who have seen their nation rocked by political crises and corruption scandals in recent years.
 
“Maybe we will have a parliament that will think about our Moldova. For the sake of our children, for a beautiful future,” Ana Olari, a 40-year-old confectioner, told the AFP news agency.
 
Sandu, who also served briefly as prime minister, has for many Moldovans become “a symbol of change”, said Alexei Tulbure, a political analyst and the country’s ex-ambassador to the United Nations.
More than 48 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the election. That represented a higher turnout than the first round of the presidential vote but lower than in the second round-run off at 53 percent.
 
At polling stations, voters had to wear masks and have their temperature taken in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
 
Twenty parties and two electoral blocs ran in the election.
 
They must cross thresholds set at 5 percent and 7 percent of the votes respectively to obtain seats in the unicameral assembly, where 101 legislators are elected for four-year terms.
 
Analysts said the diaspora – which accounts for more than a third of Moldova’s eligible voters and widely backed Sandu during the presidential vote – could hold the key and bring the PAS another 10-15 percentage points this time round.
 
Long queues formed outside the polling stations abroad and some voters – particularly in Germany and France – reserved a seat from Saturday evening, media in Moldova reported.
The diaspora cast more than 200,000 votes abroad compared to the record figure of 262,000 in the second round of the presidential election.
 
Observers say a win for Sandu’s party will likely be a blow to Russia, which wants Moldova to remain in its sphere of influence.
 
But “even with a parliamentary majority, it will not be easy to carry out her grandiose plans for in-depth change”, independent analyst Victor Ciobanu said.
 
“There will be severe opposition” from the pro-Russian side, he added.
 
Sandu has already irritated the Kremlin by proposing to remove the Russian military garrison based in Transnistria, a pro-Russian breakaway state straddling the country’s eastern frontier with Ukraine.

 

IEPF issued a statement regarding Azerbaijani children at the UN Human Rights Council

News line

Russia accuses Ukrainian military chief of ordering downing of war prisoner plane
22:10 05.07.2025
Türkiye supports firefighting operations in Syria’s Latakia
22:00 05.07.2025
UNRWA calls for immediate fuel delivery to Israel-blockaded Gaza before shutdown of basic services
21:45 05.07.2025
Pashinyan: Armenia needs new constitution
21:20 05.07.2025
UN chief condemns Russia's recent 'series of large-scale' attacks on Ukraine
21:00 05.07.2025
Kazakh servicemen arrive in Azerbaijan to participate in Tarlan - 2025 exercise
20:45 05.07.2025
Erdogan: US has crucial role in achieving ceasefire in Gaza
20:20 05.07.2025
Building collapse in Pakistan kills 15
19:45 05.07.2025
Turkish FM Fidan to attend 17th BRICS Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro
19:30 05.07.2025
Australia pledges $283M for green energy project by explosives maker
19:10 05.07.2025
OPEC+ speeds up oil output hikes, adds 548,000 bpd in August
18:45 05.07.2025
Inter completes signing of Ange-Yoan Bonny from Parma
18:20 05.07.2025
Turkish president sees Zangazur corridor 'as part of the geoeconomic revolution'
18:00 05.07.2025
Turkish president urges Azerbaijan, Russia to show restrain amid tension
17:45 05.07.2025
China says war 'not a solution' to Iranian nuclear issue
17:15 05.07.2025
At least 18 people injured after fire alert on Ryanair plane in Majorca as passengers abandon jet & leap from wing
17:00 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani PM meets with UNESCAP executive secretary
16:45 05.07.2025
Lebanese president affirms coordination with Syria, warns against sectarian tensions
16:15 05.07.2025
21 killed in Israeli strikes on tents, school-turned-shelters in Gaza Strip
16:00 05.07.2025
Turkish construction sector takes on international projects worth $6.2B in first half of 2025
15:45 05.07.2025
Azerbaijani woman wrestler becomes European champion
15:30 05.07.2025
Mayor: Death toll in Russian attacks on Kyiv reached two
15:15 05.07.2025
Texas floods kill 24 people and leave many missing from girls' summer camp
14:45 05.07.2025
Conor McGregor has interest in White House fight after Trump's UFC idea
14:30 05.07.2025
Netanyahu era sees 40% surge in Israeli settlements in occupied West Bank
14:15 05.07.2025
Equatorial Guinea sues France in UN court to block sale of Paris mansion
14:00 05.07.2025
US president 'disappointed' over phone call with Putin
13:45 05.07.2025
Academy of Azerbaijan`s State Security Service hosts graduation ceremony
13:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan and Pakistan ink memo in Khankendi
13:15 05.07.2025
Trump says there could be Gaza deal next week
13:00 05.07.2025
First flight from Türkiye to Syria launched
12:45 05.07.2025
US marks its 249th anniversary of independence
12:30 05.07.2025
Azerbaijan's role in regional integration discussed at London conference
12:00 05.07.2025
Uzbek Minister: Mirziyoyev's visit to Azerbaijan crucial for dev’t of transport links
11:45 05.07.2025
Trump says US will start talks with China on TikTok deal this week
11:30 05.07.2025
Prime Minister of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif concludes visit to Azerbaijan
11:15 05.07.2025
Pakistani premier proposes low-emissions corridor at Economic Cooperation Organization summit
11:00 05.07.2025
Rwanda pledges to deliver on its part of US-brokered peace deal with DR Congo
10:45 05.07.2025
Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm before end of Israeli ‘aggression’ against Lebanon
10:30 05.07.2025
Trump says Gaza ceasefire deal may come next week after ‘positive’ Hamas response
10:15 05.07.2025
Hamısı