Pro-Europeans hope for gains as Moldova elects parliament
Voters went to the polls to elect a new parliament in Moldova yesterday after President Maia Sandu dissolved the previous assembly to shore up her position against pro-Russia forces.
Casting her ballot in the capital Chisinau, Sandu said she had voted for change in the small exSoviet country beset by poverty and corruption.
“I voted for an honest parliament to work with, for a parliament that will appoint honest people, competent people,” Sandu told journalists after voting.
Her predecessor Igor Dodon, a Kremlin-backed politician she defeated last year, warned against voting for those who will “hand over the country to external control” as he cast his ballot.
Wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, the country of about 2.6 million has long been divided over closer ties with the European Union or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
With lawmakers loyal to Dodon blocking Sandu’s promises of reform after her election win in
November, she dissolved parliament in April and scheduled the snap vote.
The 49-year-old former World Bank economist’s promises of honesty and competence will resonate with many Moldovans, who in recent years have seen their nation rocked by political crises and corruption scandals.
“Maybe we will have a parliament that will think about our Moldova. For the sake of our children, for a beautiful future,” Ana Olari, a 40-year-old confectioner, told AFP.
More than 38 percent of eligible voters had cast their ballots by 5pm (1400 GMT). Turnout was around 45% at the same point during the second round run-off of the presidential vote.
Sandu, who also served briefly as prime minister, has for many Moldovans become “a symbol of change”, said Alexei Tulbure, a political analyst and the country’s ex-ambassador to the United Nations.
At polling stations, voters had to wear masks and have their temperature taken in a bid to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Twenty parties and two electoral blocs are running in the election.