Moldova vote heads for runoff as opposition candidate holds small lead over president
Moldova’s presidential election will head to a tight second round as opposition candidate Maia Sandu has secured a narrow lead over incumbent president Igor Dodon.
Preliminary results showed on Monday that Sandu had won 36.10%, while Dodon had 32.66% support with, 99.81% of votes counted, according to the central election commission’s data.
A candidate needs over 50% of the vote to avoid the November 15 runoff.
“I thank everyone who voted today. You have proved that you are patriots, that you care about the future of the country,” Dodon said.
Dodon took power four years ago after defeating Sandu in the second round.
The improvised European country of 3.5 million has been divided between those favoring closer ties with the European Union and many others who are calling for closer ties with Russia.
The two candidates vying for victory in the vote have very different views on the issue.
Sandu, a Harvard-educated former World Bank economist, has promised to secure more financial support from Brussels, while Dodon has pledged to roll out a settlement next year for the Russian-speaking region of Transdniestria.
Sandu has received messages of support from German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.
But Dodon supporters denounced the move as an attempt to destabilize the country.
Earlier this month, the head of Russia’s SVR Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, accused the US of trying to instigate mass protests against the Moldovan president, over his attempts to forge close ties with Moscow.
Some voters have also raised fears of post-election unrest similar to the situation in Belarus, where protesters have mounted months of street rallies after Alexander Lukashenko won the presidential election in August, but the opposition and Western countries alleged voter fraud.
Russia’s Naryshkin also accused the US of fomenting a revolution in Belarus, where Moscow-backed Lukashenko has been battling protests following the contested election.
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