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>Moldovans have been voting in a general election. Voters from Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region came by bus to the government-controlled villages of Dorotcaia and Cosnita to cast their ballots on February 24. Moldova's mainly Russian-speaking Transdniester declared independence from Moldova in 1990, which resulted in a short but bloody war in 1992. The conflict ended with a cease-fire agreement after Russian troops in the region intervened on the side of the separatists. Some 1,400 Russian troops remain in Transdniester, despite UN calls to remove them.</s>Election results in Moldova on Monday showed Israeli-born Moldavian businessman Ilan Shor, convicted in 2017 for money laundering, fraud and abuse of confidence, elected to Moldova’s parliament.

In the election, the broadly pro-Russia opposition Socialists won 31.5 percent, while the pro-European group ACUM won 25.9 percent. The incumbent Democratic Party was trailing in third place with 24.1%.

The country’s Central Electoral Commission reported that with over 99% of ballots counted, the Shor party had captured 8.35% of the vote.

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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% of the vote to enter Parliament.

Before the election, Shor insisted corruption was Moldova’s most pressing issue, despite having been convicted in a fraud case local media dubbed “the crime of the century.”

Shor, 31, was handed a 7.5-year jail term in 2017 for money laundering, fraud and abuse of confidence. But he remains free pending his appeal — and was eligible to run for office in the weekend’s parliamentary elections.

His critics say the fact that he is allowed to run despite his conviction is a damning indictment of Moldova’s political system.

Under the terms of a new voting system Shor was all but guaranteed to win a seat in his constituency — the central town of Orhei, where he has been mayor since 2015.

Shor was born in Tel Aviv to Jewish Moldovan parents. The family moved back to the country when Shor was a toddler and he grew up in Moldova.

In July 2018, Moldova’s Sports Minister Octavian Țicu attacked Shor as a “thief” and as a foreigner, and the country’s Jewish community came to Shor’s defense.

For a while in 2015, Shor was placed under house arrest as part of the probe into the huge bank fraud that eventually led to his conviction.

Prosecutors described a scam involving fraudulent transactions worth one billion dollars between three Moldovan banks. Shor at the time was chairman of the board of one of the banks.

A report by the international security agency Kroll commissioned by the Moldovan authorities put Shor at the center of the web of organizations involved in the fraudulent transactions.

Several politicians were reported to have benefited, and the money was never recovered.

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.

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-Europe candidate.

AP and AFP contributed to this report</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>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>Polls have indicated that no party would win an outright majority at the elections VLADISLAV CULIOMZA/REUTERS

The former Soviet state of Moldova voted yesterday in elections that pitted a pro-western ruling party rocked by corruption allegations against a resurgent opposition in favour of closer ties with Russia.

Polls indicated that neither the incumbent Democratic Party nor the Socialists would win an outright majority, heralding months of coalition talks or another election.

Moldova borders Romania, an EU state, and Ukraine. It has had three governments since 2015, when political and economic crises erupted on the news that $1 billion — about 12 per cent of the country’s GDP — had vanished from the banking system. Moscow is investigating alleged money laundering involving two Russian banks by Vladimir Plahotniuc, the Democratic Party leader, in a move viewed as an attempt to sway the election. Last…</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>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: 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>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.