Chisinau, Moldova
AP
–
Moldovan is heading to vote in a tense parliamentary election that was plagued by Russian interference claims, choice to integrate with the European Union, or a choice to drift into the Moscow fold.
The pivotal vote on Sunday elected a new 101-seat parliament, and then the president of Moldova can generally appoint a prime minister from a major political party or bloc, which can attempt to form a new government. The proposed government requires parliamentary approval.
The polls will be open at 7am (12am ET) and closed at 9pm (2pm ET). The Central Election Commission reported that over 400,000 people, or about 14% of eligible voters, voted by 11am (4am ET).
Pro-Western and pro-Russian political parties spit it out
Tensioned race pits the governing party of Western Western actions and solidarity, or PAS, which have been a majority in Congress since 2021, but risk losing it, but leave uncertainty towards potential supporters partners against Russian-friendly adversaries, and uncertainty in the geopolitical courses taken by the country.
After casting her vote, Western Moldova President Maia Sandhu claimed that Russia had “interfered on a massive scale” in the election, and she voted “to maintain peace” and said that her country’s future is within the EU.
“Russia poses a risk to our democracy. Our democracies are young and vulnerable, but that doesn’t mean that states with longer democracies are not at risk. We want to live in democracy,” she said. “Today, in our country, democracy is in the hands of Moldovan. Only they can save the Republic of Moldova.”
Moldova is inland between Ukraine and Romania, the European Union member. The country, which has roughly 2.5 million, spent in recent years on a westbound road in 2022, gaining candidate status in the EU, shortly after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A few days before Sunday’s vote, Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Ressine warned that Russia was spending “a hundreds of millions of euros” as part of a suspicion of a “hybrid war” that sought to take away what it described as the “final battle for our country’s future.”
“I call for all the Moldovans in our homes and across Europe. We can’t change what Russia does, but we can change what we do as people,” he said. “Turn your worries into mobilisation and thoughtful behavior…help them to stop their plans.”
The alleged Russian strategies include a massive voting buying business, cyberattacks on critical government infrastructure, plans to incite large election riots, and a vast online disinformation campaign to reduce support for European ruling parties.
Russia repeatedly denied interference in Moldova and dismissed allegations last week as “anti-Russian” and “bassed”;
Officials warn that Moldova’s election day could be targeted by false bomb threats, cyber attacks, temporary power outages and street violence by trained individuals. In the crackdown before the vote, law enforcement officials have committed hundreds of attacks, among which the score is in custody.
“The nation is doing everything to ensure that people are safe and that the votes are protected,” Sandhu said after voting on Sunday.
Moldova’s big diaspora is expected to play a crucial role in the results on Sunday. Last year’s presidential outflow was also considered an Eastern and West choice, but a record number of 327,000 voters won the right to vote overseas, with over 82% of whom backed Sandhu and ultimately secured her re-election.
The PA’s key opponent in Sunday’s election is the patriotic election bloc in Russia, a group of political parties seeking “friendship with Russia” and “permanent neutrality.” Others say they are pro-Europeans with our party, a populist who wants a “balanced foreign policy” between the East and West, but critics say they seek close ties with Moscow.
Former president and patriotic election bloc member Igor Dodon said Sunday’s election was “a day people aren’t afraid of, but others are afraid of people.”
“We go out and vote, we choose a country where people’s fears go away,” he said. “We choose a normal life for our citizens – we believe in Moldova.”
As the country has fallen from crisis to crisis in recent years, Moldovan faces rampaging inflation, instability from the wars next door, increasing costs of living and high poverty rates, and it is possible that it has diminished support for the pro-European ruling party founded by Sandhu in 2016.
Most local polls show that PAs get the most votes, but Moldova’s big diaspora is not included, leaving around a third of voters undecided. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, voter turnout was just 48%.
Iulian Groza, executive director of the Institute for European Policy Reform Think Tanks, says the higher the voter turnout, the more likely the PA will be to secure a majority.
“Government parties tend to erode with public support, and over the past four years Moldova has experienced multiple crises,” he said. “Four years from now… I think it can be very clear that despite all the crises, Moldova has resisted this Russian attack.”
