Moldovans to elect president in crucial runoff marred by fraud and claims of intimidation

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Moldovans are voting in a crucial second-round presidential election Sunday pitting pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu against a Russia-friendly challenger as allegations of voter fraud and intimidation continue. threaten democracy in a candidate country for joining the European Union.

in the first round took place on October 20Sandu won 42% of the vote, but could not get an absolute majority. She will face Oleksandr Stoyanoglo, a former prosecutor general who topped the polls in the first round with nearly 26% of the vote.

Polling stations opened at 7am local time (05:00 GMT) on Sunday and will close at 21:00 (19:00 GMT).

The poll, published by research firm iData, points to a tight race that is tipped for Sandu’s narrow victory, an outcome that could hinge on Moldova’s large diaspora. The office of president carries significant powers in areas such as foreign policy and national security, and has a four-year term.

The Moldovan diaspora played a key role in the national referendum, also held on October 20, when a slim majority of 50.35% voted to secure Moldova’s path to EU membership. But the results of the vote, including Sunday’s vote, were clouded by allegations of a major vote-buying scheme and voter intimidation.

Instead of receiving the overwhelming support that Sandu had hoped for, the results in both races showed that Moldova’s judicial system is unable to adequately protect democratic process.

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recan said on Friday that people across the country were receiving “anonymous death threats over phone calls” in what he called an “extraordinary attack” to scare voters in the former Soviet republic, which has a population of about 2 .5 million people. people

“These acts of intimidation have only one goal: to create panic and fear,” Rechan said in a statement posted on social media. “I assure you, state bodies will ensure order and protect citizens.”

Outside a polling station in Romania’s capital Bucharest on Sunday, 20-year-old medical student Silviana Zestrea said the runoff would be a “decisive step” for Moldova’s future.

“People have to understand that we have to choose a real candidate who lives up to our expectations,” she said. “Because I think even though we’re a diaspora now, none of us really wanted to leave.”

After two votes in October, Moldovan law enforcement said the vote-buying scheme was orchestrated by Ilan Shor, an exiled oligarch who lives in Russia and was convicted in absentia last year fraud and money laundering. Shore has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors say $39 million was paid to more than 130,000 voters through an internationally sanctioned Russian bank between September and October. Anti-corruption authorities conducted hundreds of raids and seized more than $2.7 million (€2.5 million) in cash during the crackdown.

In one case in Gagauzia, an autonomous part of Moldova where only 5% voted for the EU, a doctor was detained after allegedly forcing 25 residents of a nursing home to vote for a candidate they did not choose. Police said they had received “compelling evidence”, including financial transfers from the same Russian bank.

On Saturday at a church in Komrat, the capital of Gagauzia, Father Vasiliy told The Associated Press that he urged people to go and vote because it was a “civic duty” and that they were not naming any candidates. “We use the benefits that the country offers us – light, gas,” he said. “Whether we like what the government is doing or not, we have to go and vote. … The Church always prays for peace.”

On Thursday, prosecutors also raided the headquarters of a political party and said 12 people were suspected of paying voters to choose a candidate in the presidential race. Criminal proceedings have also been opened against 40 employees of state bodies on suspicion of receiving election bribes.

Cristian Kantir, a Moldovan associate professor in the Department of International Affairs at Oakland University, told the AP that whatever the outcome of the second round, it “will not reduce” geopolitical tensions. “On the contrary, I expect geopolitical polarization to be intensified by the campaign for the legislative elections in 2025,” he said.

Moldova’s law enforcement agencies need more resources and better trained staff who work faster to fight voter fraud, he added, to “create an environment where anyone who wants to buy or sell votes knows that they will have clear and fast consequences”.

Savlina Adasan, a 21-year-old economics student in Bucharest, says she voted for Sanda, citing concerns about corruption and voters’ lack of information about the two candidates.

“We want a European future for our country,” she said, adding that it offers “a lot of opportunities, development for our country … and I feel that if another candidate wins, it means that we are going back ten steps as a country . .”

A pro-Western government has been in power in Moldova since 2021, and parliamentary elections will be held in 2025. Moldovan observers warn that next year’s vote could become Moscow’s main target.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moldova applied to join the EU. In June of the same year, it received candidate status, and in the summer of 2024, Brussels agreed start membership negotiations. The sharp shift to the West irritated Moscow and significantly damaged relations with Chisinau.

Since then, Moldovan authorities have repeatedly accused Russia of waging a major “hybrid war,” ranging from large-scale disinformation campaigns, protests by pro-Russian parties, and vote-buying schemes that undermine national elections. Russia denies its involvement.

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Stephen McGrath reported from Bucharest, Romania; Nicolae Dumitrake from Comrat, Moldova.