A man leaves a polling booth at a polling station in Pojareni village, on Feb 24, 2019, as Moldovans are called to the polls to elect new parliament members. — AFP </s> CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Early results from Sunday's parliamentary elections in Moldova showed no party secured a majority, a result that could leave the former Soviet republic in limbo between pro-Western and pro-Russia forces.

With one-fourth of the votes counted, the broadly pro-Russia opposition Socialists had 30.1 percent, while the incumbent Democratic Party had 29.2 percent. The pro-European group ACUM was in third with about 20.9 percent.

The election comes as the Democratic Party's governing alliance has lost support over rampant corruption, falling living standards and the erosion of democracy in Moldova, a small landlocked nation between Romania and Ukraine,.

President Igor Dodon forecast another election in the coming months. "We have a major risk of early elections," he said after casting his ballot.

If lawmakers fail to form a governing coalition within 45 days of the election result, the president will dissolve the legislature and call a new vote.

More than 3 million voters were eligible to choose representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat legislature. Parties needed to win a minimum of 6 percent of the ballots to enter Parliament.

Election authorities said voter turnout was just over 49 percent when polls closed.

ACUM party leader Maia Sandu told The Associated Press that the election was "the most undemocratic in the history of Moldova."

"A gang of thieves ... has captured the state institutions" and are "scaring ... threatening and impoverishing us," Sandu said Sunday as she urged Moldovans to vote.

One voter, Svetlana Druta, said she had voted to change the judicial system.

"We need to start from the top and then (change) elementary schools and kindergartens, and then we need a good health" system, she said.

Last year, the European Parliament called Moldova "a state captured by oligarchic interests." The European Union also froze aid to Moldova after a local court invalidated the 2018 Chisinau mayoral election on a technicality, a move to thwart the apparent victory of a pro-European candidate.

But Vladimir Plahotniuc, the Democratic Party chief and the country's de-facto leader, on Sunday insisted the ruling party had brought "order and discipline" through its economic policies.

Despite that claim, an estimated 1 million Moldovans have moved abroad to find jobs, mainly in the EU and Russia.

Moldova's voting system has been changed in what critics say is a ploy to help the two main parties — the Socialists and the Democrats — carve up influence.

About 340 international observers from 38 countries monitored the ballot.

Associated Press writers Alison Mutler, in Bucharest, Romania and Corneliu Rusnac in Chisinau, Moldova, contributed to this report. </s> Moldova vote pits pro-Moscow, West forces against each other

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans voted Sunday in a parliamentary election that could deepen the split between pro-Western and pro-Russia forces in the former Soviet republic.

The election in Moldova, a small landlocked nation between Romania and Ukraine, comes as the Democratic Party's ruling alliance has lost support over rampant corruption, falling living standards and the erosion of democracy.

The vote is a three-way contest between the broadly pro-Russia opposition Socialists, whose former leader Igor Dodon became Moldova's president in 2016, the Democrats and a pro-European group, ACUM.

More than 3 million voters can choose representatives for the next four years to the 101-seat legislature. No party is expected to win an outright majority and parties need to win 6 percent of the ballot to enter Parliament. The first results are expected Monday.

Election authorities said voter turnout was just over 49 percent when polls closed. The figure is likely to rise slightly after votes from abroad are counted.

Dodon on Sunday forecast another election in the coming months.

"We have a major risk of early elections," he said after casting his vote.

If lawmakers fail to form a coalition 45 days after the election result, the president dissolves the legislature and calls a new vote.

ACUM party leader Maia Sandu told The Associated Press that the election was "the most undemocratic in the history of Moldova."

"A gang of thieves ... has captured the state institutions" and are "scaring ... threatening and impoverishing us," Sandu said Sunday as she urged Moldovans to vote.

One voter, Svetlana Druta, said she had voted to change the judicial system.

"We need to start from the top and then (change) elementary schools and kindergartens, and then we need a good health" system, she said.

Last year, the European Parliament called Moldova "a state captured by oligarchic interests." The European Union also froze aid to Moldova after a local court invalidated the 2018 Chisinau mayoral election on a technicality, a move to thwart the apparent victory of a pro-European candidate.

But Vladimir Plahotniuc, the Democratic Party chief and the country's de-facto leader, on Sunday insisted the ruling party had brought "order and discipline" through its economic policies.

Despite that claim, an estimated 1 million Moldovans have moved abroad to find jobs, mainly in the EU and Russia.

Moldova's voting system has been changed in what critics say is a ploy to help the two main parties — the Socialists and the Democrats — carve up influence.

About 340 international observers from 38 countries are monitoring the ballot.

Alison Mutler in Bucharest, Romania, and Corneliu Rusnac in Chisinau, contributed to this report. </s> CHISINAU, Moldova: A pro-Russian party has taken the lead in parliamentary elections in Moldova, results showed on Monday (Feb 25), but without the clear majority needed to avoid a hung parliament.

With nearly all votes counted, the Socialist party close to President Igor Dodon was ahead with 31 per cent, the election commission said.

The pro-European ACUM bloc came second with 26 per cent, while the ruling pro-Western Democratic Party was third with 24 per cent.

Political observers fear a new period of instability for the ex-Soviet country after Sunday's vote.

Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has struggled to find its place since gaining independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

While many in the country of 3.5 million want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others seek to follow the example of Romania - with which Moldova shares a language and long history - and look west to the European Union.

The vote was held under a new electoral system that divides the 101-seat parliament into seats elected by party lists and by individual constituencies. </s> According to the results announced after the tallying of 98.32 percent of the votes, pro-Russia candidate Igor Dodon has won 48.71 percent of the votes in the Moldovan presidential elections and will face Maia Sandu – a politician considered to be pro-European, who won 37.94 percent of the votes – in the runoff. The voter turnout stood at 48.9 percent according to preliminary data, Mediafax informs.

Several Romanian politicians have called on Moldovan voters to mobilise and vote in favour of pro-European candidate Maia Sandu in the Republic of Moldova’s presidential runoff.

President Iohannis: I hope second round of elections in Moldova observes European standards

The presidential elections of the Republic of Moldova represent a crucial moment for the state’s future, President Klaus Iohannis said on Monday.

He shows that on Sunday he had constantly been informed by the Foreign Affairs Ministry about the ballot development, including through the Romanian Embassy in Chisinau.

“I am voicing my hope that the second round of elections of 13 November 2016 is carried out in good conditions, with the observance of the European standards on election conduct, in the spirit of fairness and transparency. In context, I underscore the importance of further ensuring the internal stability and the responsibility of the entire political class,” reads the president’s message sent after the first round of the presidential elections of the Republic of Moldova.

“The strategic partnership for the European integration of the Republic of Moldova between Romania and the Republic of Moldova must be developed and strengthened, same as the reform process in a European spirit, aimed at continuing the European integration to the concrete benefit of all the citizens of the Republic of Moldova,” Iohannis mentions.

National Liberal Party (PNL) President Alina Gorghiu on Monday said that the second round of the presidential election in Moldova is a chance for preserving Moldova’s pro-Europe orientation.

“I want to congratulate the Moldovans, who after 20 years showed up to elect their next president, and I am also glad that the election was held without incidents. It is good news that there will be a runoff, which is a chance for Moldova to preserve its strategic direction and pro-Europe orientation,” Gorghiu wrote in a Facebook posting.

Ex-President Traian Basescu has forecast that Maia Sandu will win the presidential runoff, welcoming the result registered on Sunday.

“The Republic of Moldova is PRO WEST, PRO ROMANIA. Igor Dodon hasn’t won the presidential elections in the first round, even though his Russophone electorate was totally mobilised to go out and vote. Maia Sandu has managed to enter the runoff with a good score of 38 percent, although a significant part of young voters did not vote but will surely do so in the runoff.”

“On Sunday, November 13, Maia Sandu will win the presidential elections with 53 percent of the votes and the Republic of Moldova will remain Pro-Europe and Pro-Romania, with voter turnout set to surpass 55 percent. Bravo Maia, bravo citizens of the Republic of Moldova!” Traian Basescu wrote on Facebook.

On the other hand, MP Theodor Paleologu thinks that Maia Sandu has a “small but real chance” to become President.

“Thank God Dodon did not win in the first round! Thank God there is still a small but real chance left for Maia Sandu to win the presidential elections in the Republic of Moldova! From now on I hope the people of Bessarabia will mobilise against the policy that Dodon represents,” the MP wrote on his page.

Ghinea: A sad result, because more was possible

Former European Funds Minister Cristian Ghinea, USR’s candidate in the parliamentary elections, stated however that Sunday’s result “is sad primarily because doing more, doing it better and at the necessary moment was possible,” referring to what Romania could have done for a truly democratic Moldova.

“What if Traian Basescu, after taking that excellent decision to donate 100 million Euros to Moldova, wouldn’t have taken the catastrophic decision to entrust Elena Udrea with the money. At [the helm of] a ministry that had zero experience and zero expertise as external donor. Back then, I amicably argued with the Swedish ambassador to Chisinau. The ambassador claimed that Sweden is Moldova’s biggest bilateral donor, I claimed that Romania is. She told me: let’s see the money and the projects implemented and then we’ll talk. I wrote two public reports while Basescu was President, in which I warned that the money is blocked or poorly spent. Back then his aide Iulian Chifu became angry with me. So did two MAE [Romanian Foreign Ministry] departments. In the end, though, I was right: although the assistance project should have been finalised in 2014, not even half of the sum has been spent by 2016,” the ex-minister wrote on Facebook.

He drew a parallel between Maia Sandu and Dacian Ciolos and emphasised that Traian Basescu and Victor Ponta should have implemented the “conditional aid” principle much earlier, the conditions being transparency, democratisation, anti-corruption.

“How would things have turned out had we realised earlier that we cannot leave in the hands of oligarchs the money meant for the elimination of the oligarchy? How would things have turned out had we had, six years ago, when Moldova was getting rid of Voronin, a Romanian Development Agency – RoAid – that would have better managed the money that Basescu promised?” Ghinea rhetorically asked.

Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau: Regardless who will be president in Moldova, Romania wants fair relations

Regardless of who will be the democratically elected president of the Republic of Moldova, Romania will want to have ‘fair’ and ‘of principle’ relations, based on which we can consolidate cooperation, Romania’s Ambassador in Chisinau Daniel Ionita said in an interview to AGERPRES on Monday, one day after the first round of the presidential elections of the Republic of Moldova.

“As far as we are concerned, the result should be only one: regardless of who will be the democratically elected president of the Republic of Moldova, Romania will want to have fair and of principle relations, based on which all the forms of cooperation can be continued and consolidated,” the diplomat said.

Ionita said that the Republic of Moldova represents a “perennial strategic priority” of Romania and the only path it should follow is “the European path, the path generating not only the so much needed stability, but also the prosperity desired for all the citizens.” </s> CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldovans are voting in a presidential election Sunday in which the favorite has promised to restore ties with Russia that cooled after the former Soviet republic signed a trade deal with the European Union.

Igor Dodon, a pro-Moscow figure, has tapped into popular anger with corruption under the pro-European government that came to power in 2009, particularly over about $1 billion that went missing from Moldovan banks before 2014 parliamentary elections.

"I voted for the future of the country. I am totally convinced that Moldova has a future. It will be independent, united and sovereign," said Dodon, who heads the opposition Socialists' Party after voting, predicting an easy win.

Dodon says he wants to federalize Moldova to include the breakaway region of Trans-Dniester where more than 1,000 Russian troops are stationed, and his comments about a "united" Moldova alluded to that.

Rival Maia Sandu, an ex-World Bank economist, who ran on an anti-corruption ticket, urged Moldovans to get out and vote. She needs a high turnout to stand a chance of winning. At midday, about 22 percent of the electorate had voted — the same as in the first round.

"If the vote is correct, we will win.... it is important to be vigilant and not let them steal the vote," she said.

She said if elected, as the new president, she would appoint "honest, righteous people and good professionals ... this will be the first signal that things change for the better in Moldova."

The former education minister, who heads the Action and Solidarity Party, says the former Soviet republic will have a more prosperous future in the EU.

Dodon, who nearly won the election in the first round two weeks ago and leads in recent polls, has promised to restore friendly relations with Moscow. He has also recently hedged his bets, saying he also seeks good relations with Moldova's neighbors, Romania and Ukraine.

He has been criticized in Ukraine for saying Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, is Russian territory. Russia punished agricultural Moldova with a trade embargo on wine, fruit and vegetables after it signed a trade association deal with the EU in 2014.

Russia and the West seek greater influence over the strategically-placed, but impoverished agricultural country of 3.5 million.

Former Romanian President Traian Basescu, who obtained Moldovan citizenship this month, voted at the Moldovan Embassy in Bucharest.

"I want European values in this state," he said. </s> Moldova's pro-Russian Socialist party edged out its pro-European rival to take the most votes in a parliamentary election, results showed Monday, but without the majority needed to avoid a hung parliament.

Sunday's vote was being watched for signs of whether ex-Soviet Moldova would seek to strengthen ties with Moscow or move closer Europe.

The inconclusive results, and widespread accusations of fraud, will make coalition talks difficult and could lead to protests or even another election within weeks.

With nearly all votes counted, the Socialist party close to President Igor Dodon was in the lead with 31 percent, the election commission said.

Dodon, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has pushed for Moldova to join the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Union.

The pro-European ACUM bloc, which wants Moldova to seek closer ties with the European Union, came second with 26 percent.

The ruling pro-Western Democratic Party was third with 24 percent, despite accusations from its rivals that it had organised massive election fraud.

The Socialists and ACUM accused the Democratic Party, led by powerful oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, of bussing in people from Moldova's breakaway region of Transnistria and telling them how to vote.

The election campaign was chaotic, with ACUM leaders at one point claiming they were poisoned and Russian authorities accusing Plahotniuc of running a vast money-laundering scheme in 2013-14.

Foreign election observers are to give a briefing later Monday on the conduct of the election, potentially giving critics ammunition to claim the vote was undemocratic.

Horse-trading to form a government will be especially complicated as the vote was held under a new electoral system that divides the 101-seat parliament into seats elected by party lists and by individual constituencies.

Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has struggled to find its place since gaining independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

While many in the country of 3.5 million people want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others seek to follow the example of Romania -- with which Moldova shares a language and long history -- and look west to the EU.

Relations with the EU have deteriorated in recent months. Last November, Brussels reduced aid citing a "deterioration of the rule of law" -- a reference mainly to corruption.

Moldova last year ranked 117 out of 180 nations in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. </s> Sunday's vote is shaping up as a three-way race between the pro-Russian Socialist party of President Igor Dodon, whose posters are seen here, the ruling Democratic party and a pro-European alliance

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Chisinau (AFP)

Moldova will hold a parliamentary election on Sunday after a chaotic last few days of campaigning in the tiny ex-Soviet republic that has long been divided between pro-Russians and pro-Europeans.

Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova has struggled to find its place since gaining independence with the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sunday's vote is shaping up as a three-way race between the pro-Russian Socialist party of President Igor Dodon, the ruling Democratic party and a pro-European alliance.

While many in the country of 3.5 million want to maintain close ties with Moscow, others seek to follow the example of Romania -- with which Moldova shares a language and long history -- and look west to the European Union.

The ballot will be held under a new electoral system that divides the 101-seat parliament.

Polls open at 7:00 am (0500 GMT) and are scheduled to close at 9:00 pm, with results expected to be announced Monday morning.

Dodon's pro-Moscow party is leading in recent opinion polls, advocating for Moldova to join Russia's Eurasian Economic Union over the EU.

The alliance of pro-European parties, which favours joining the EU and NATO, comes second.

In third place is the centre-left Democratic Party led by powerful oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, which holds a majority in the current parliament and leads the government. It has pursued a balanced approach between Moscow and Brussels.

No party is likely to gain the majority needed to form a government, and analysts fear a period of instability for the country after the vote.

Landlocked Moldova is one of Europe's poorest countries, with per capita GDP in 2018 four times smaller than neighbouring Romania, the World Bank says. Its economy relies heavily on remittances sent by Moldovans working abroad, but also on farming and a wine industry that exports mostly to eastern Europe and China.

- Moscow 'interference' -

Fuelling the tense climate in the last days of campaigning, Russian authorities on Friday accused the ruling party leader Plahotniuc of running a vast money-laundering scheme between 2013 and 2014.

His party denounced this as Moscow's "interference" in the vote.

Moldova signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014, but last year Brussels reduced its financial aid to the country citing a "deterioration of the rule of law" -- a reference mainly to the country's struggle with corruption.

The EU adopted a resolution in November 2018 saying the Moldovan state was "captured by oligarchic interests".

Moldova last year ranked 117 out of 180 nations in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index.

In what analysts say is a case exposing Moldova's rife graft, a businessman convicted in a billion-dollar fraud case is likely to make it to parliament.

Israeli-born Ilan Shor remains free pending an appeal -- but is still eligible to run for office under his self-named Shor Party.

The 31-year-old insists corruption is Moldova's most pressing issue, but critics say the fact that he is allowed to stand is a damning indictment of Moldova's political system. He denies any charges against him.

Russia has meanwhile rallied around Dodon, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

As well as seeking to keep Moldova in its sphere of influence, Moscow has long backed separatists in the country's Russian-speaking breakaway region of Transnistria.

Russia stations troops in that region which broke away after a brief civil war following the collapse of the USSR but is not internationally recognised.

Moscow helps prop up the region, which has a population of around 500,000 people and its currency is called the ruble.

"Of course, Russia is not indifferent to the formation of the Moldovan parliament," Putin said after a meeting with Dodon in Moscow last month.

© 2019 AFP </s> CHISINAU -- Voters in Moldova went to the polls on February 24 for legislative elections that were far from conclusive. Following a campaign that was, according to the head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring team, George Tsereteli, "active, hard-fought, and polarized," the country can expect a deeply divided parliament without a clear majority that could have trouble agreeing on a new government. Protests, instability, or another round of legislative voting are real prospects in the short term.

RFE/RL's Moldova Service correspondent Valentina Ursu spoke with political analyst Angela Gramada, president of the Experts for Security and Global Affairs think tank in Bucharest, about the campaign and the outlook for Moldova's future.

RFE/RL: How would you evaluate the campaign and the election that we have just seen?

Angela Gramada: It was one of the most primitive election campaigns, and I use the word "primitive" to signify how little progress has been made. Or rather how much our political consciousness and our political culture have been degraded and how low is our level of political culture. I'd just mention a few concrete facts to illustrate my point.

First, there was unprecedented pressure on civil society. The clearest example was [influential independent election monitor] Promo-LEX, but that isn't the only case. There was very strong pressure on Promo-LEX and that alerted international organizations and our international partners to pay more attention to how the election campaign was going.

I won't [even] go into the fact that candidates with the same last name as real candidates were registered and that the campaign was characterized by unheard-of populism. The candidates of several political parties turned the campaign into a real circus, insulting the intelligence of the voters. And there was the scandal with the expired passports -- earlier the Central Election Commission allowed people with expired passports to vote, but this time -- surprise! -- it was forbidden.

And I was particularly surprised by the attitude of the [Democratic Party-led] government, which accused citizens living abroad of not being ready for the elections. This was a fundamentally incorrect approach that did nothing to build confidence in the political discourse of the current authorities.

Furthermore, almost no one looked at the candidate lists -- I mean, among the voters. But there was a lot of interesting stuff there. I looked over the lists for several precincts and I found candidates who did not list their residences or whose spouses also did not list their place of residence, which naturally begs the question: Do they have the right to run in that particular precinct?

If you study the party lists and analyze the party platforms and compare the candidates and their behavior during the campaign, you will conclude that this was one of the weakest campaigns that I have ever participated in as a voter in the Republic of Moldova.

RFE/RL: All of Moldova's [international] partners were calling for the elections to be fair and free. Were these demands heeded? Is there a danger that the elections could be invalidated or not accepted?

Gramada: First, the Central Election Commission was more active and open, although the quality of its work was not always ideal. The commission was active on social media, but this does not mean that other participants in the process always acted in the best interests of the voters.

Another equally important factor was that the authorities were not able to persuade our foreign partners of the honesty of their intentions. You can tell this was the case by the many statements and press releases they issued during the campaign. I saw many statements from our European partners, as well as from the Russians, that drew attention to particular issues. Of course they were pursuing various goals, but the fact that they insisted on honest and free elections or Moldova risked being deprived of political and financial support should force us all to think hard about what the next steps should be now that the elections are over.

It is important to note that some in the Moldovan government and some of our foreign partners have warned of the possibility the situation could destabilize in the days following the voting.

If you analyze the situation from the point of view of our foreign partners, these concerns are completely understandable, considering their high-profile financial and technical investments in Moldova aimed at enabling us to carry out necessary reforms. But instability sows panic among the voters and disorients them even more -- not only in terms of their political choices for the future but even in terms of their personal safety after the elections.

In this light, consider the statement by [former Socialist Party leader and current President] Igor Dodon, who warned his supporters about the existence of such destabilization risks and the necessity of being ready to come out into the streets. That could lead to disorder and destabilization.

RFE/RL: The main question now is who will run Moldova following these elections and what kind of government will be formed?

Gramada: It is really difficult now to make predictions. I think that after the elections it will take several more months before we have some clarity on what might happen in the country. Some forces are pushing for dissolving parliament and holding snap elections, and I think that alone is a weighty argument against making any rash predictions, particularly ones that could complicate the situation further.

RFE/RL: During the last elections, people were saying that the geopolitical factor was decisive. Was that true this time?

Gramada: The question of "whither goes Moldova" is always present any time we make political decisions. Even if there are not active public discussions on this topic or even if the candidates don't give too much attention to the topic of Moscow/Brussels or United States/Brussels, it is still clear that the essence of the reforms and projects that are offered to us are pointing in one or another clear direction: either a democratic Moldova or a Moldova that is stagnating in the same situation with a very complicated future.

The choice is either a pro-European Moldova or a Moldova that remains more or less in a state of obedience, that does not develop, that does not stray far from the [Moscow-dominated Soviet] sphere that it left in 1991, and that does not reject certain interests that come to it from the east. But it is important to understand that the strategies proposed by the political parties of Moldova really do aim at moving at least somewhat away from the old geopolitical discourse.

A lot was said about reforms and a lot of attention was paid to legal-reform projects. I had the impression that the main innovation of the election campaign and its main discovery was the discussion of the legal system and corruption, although the conceptions that were presented to us were rather weakly argued and oversimplified.

No one proposed a national project that I would personally support wholeheartedly and that would have convinced me to vote for a particular candidate. I made my choice based on the existing proposals, but that doesn't mean I agree with that vision or that my final decision was the optimal one for the future of Moldova.
Voters in Moldova go to the polls to elect the new members of Parliament.