Pro-Western Maia Sandu wins presidential election in Moldova
4 November 08:24
Moldova’s incumbent president, pro-Western politician Maia Sandu, has won re-election to a second term in office. She beat her opponent, the pro-Russian Socialist Party candidate Alexandru Stoianoglo, by more than 10 percentage points, reports Komersant ukrainskyi
After 99.55% of the protocols were counted, Sandu received 55.26% of the vote, or 924,351 votes, while her opponent Stoianoglo received 44.74%, or 748,263 votes. This gave her an advantage of more than 176 thousand votes.
A total of 1,698,813 Moldovan citizens took part in the elections.
Follow us on Telegram: the main news in brief
In the Moldovan capital, Chisinau, Sandu received significant support – 57.38% of the vote, winning in all districts except Botanica, which traditionally favors pro-Russian candidates.
It is worth noting that without the diaspora vote , Stoianoglo could have won. At polling stations inside the country, he received 51.19% (692,533 votes) against Sandu’s 48.81% (660,226 votes). It was thanks to the diaspora vote that Sandu managed to secure a landslide victory: abroad, where 96% of the protocols were counted, 82.58% of voters (264,125 votes) voted for her, while Stoianoglou received only 17.42% (55,730 votes).
The elections were accompanied by numerous incidents. For example, there were reports of “mining” of four polling stations abroad, which traditionally support Sandu. Also, unknown persons mined the bridge through which voters from Transnistria were supposed to come to vote. In addition, Sandu’s team accused Russia of trying to influence the course of the second round of elections through massive interference.
As reported earlier, Moldova barely chose the European path of development in the referendum.
