PRO-EU MAIA SANDU WINS MOLDOVA’S PRESIDENCY

Mon 16 November 2020:

Moldovan opposition candidate Maia Sandu, who favours closer ties with the European Union, looks on course to win the second round of Moldova’s presidential election, with preliminary results showing her well ahead of the pro-Russian incumbent with almost all ballots counted.

Sandu, who leads the Party of Action and Solidarity, has promised to lead a fight against endemic corruption in the country, which is wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania.

The country has been hit by multiple political crises and a $1 billion (€840 million) bank fraud scheme that equates to almost 15% of its annual economic output.

Dodon, who sought a new four-year mandate, says Moldova is tired of upheaval and now needs stability.

Following the first round of voting two weeks ago, the national electoral authority said Sandu received 36.1% of votes, while Dodon garnered 32.6%.

The West and Russia vie for influence in the former Soviet republic of 3.5 million, which is one of Europe’s poorest nations and has suffered a sharp economic downturn during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sandu — who worked for the World Bank and was briefly Moldova’s prime minister — has received messages of support from German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and the former European Council President Donald Tusk.

As results came in on Sunday night, celebrations broke out in front of the opposition headquarters in the centre of the capital Chisinau, with supporters chanting: “President Maia Sandu” and “a country for young people”.

Dodon, who on Friday had called on supporters to take to the streets if he felt the election was stolen from him, on Facebook said: “I urge everyone to calm, regardless of the election results.”

Opinion polls had put the rivals neck-and-neck before the election runoff. Sandu finished ahead in the first round two weeks ago with a late surge in support from voters living abroad, but failed to secure enough votes for outright victory.

On Sunday, more than 200,000 Moldovans living overseas had voted by the early evening, compared with a total of 150,000 in the first round.

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