A suspenseful presidential election in Moldova this Sunday, November 3. Moldovans are called to the polls for a second round which pits outgoing pro-European President Maia Sandu against Alexandr Stoianoglo, a former prosecutor who advocates rapprochement with Russia. The vote promises to be close.
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With our special correspondent in Chisinau, Julien Chavanne
It will be a long day in the headquarters of the two candidates. If Maia Sandu came first in the first round with 42.5% of the votes, her opponent who collected nearly 26% can count on a good carryover of the votes. To mobilize the undecided, Alexandr Stoianoglo raised the risk of war with Russia if the country moved closer to the European Union. Without risking numerical predictions this time, the analysts are all predicting a close battle.
The outgoing president hopes that the diaspora will vote: a quarter of Moldovans live abroad. But what worries him most is once again the risk of fraud. Nearly 140,000 Moldovans reportedly received money to vote for Stoianoglo in the first round. And police are already reporting that Russia has organized all-expenses-paid trips between Russia and Moldova for Moldovans. In her interviews and social media posts, Maia Sandu called on voters not to “ give in to scammers “.
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The risk of a Georgian-style scenario is real. The results will be known late Sunday evening. Alexandr Stoianoglo has already hinted that he could challenge them. The vote promises to be close and many voters expect further fraud.
The most important thing is that this election is not fraudulent. We hope everything goes well.
Voter fears of fraud
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