We also vote to elect the president. Favorite Maya Sandu
Two cards that the Moldovans received today at the polls: one for theelection of the presidentfor which the incumbent is favored Maya Sandhu, the other for the referendum on the inclusion of membership of Europe in the constitution.
The referendum and relations with Russia
For the quorum of the referendum serves a third of those entitled to vote, objective achieved already at 1pm. Considering that over half of Moldovans are in favor it is likely that there will be a result on this already this evening.
It’s a more symbolic vote than anything else Why Since the invasion of Ukraine, Moldova has cut ties with the former Soviet parent company and as a candidate country it has begun the process of joining Brussels which it hopes to conclude within 8 years. It is no coincidence that a few days ago in Chisnau there was Ursula Von Der Leyen supporting Sandu.
The presidential candidates
For the presidential elections, Maya Sandu’s main rival is the socialist Alexander Stoianoglonear Moscow, who, leaving the polling station, declared that he had not voted for the referendum.
In the first round of the presidential elections, whoever obtains more than 50% of the votes is read out, otherwise we will go to the second round on November 3rd.
Attempts to influence the vote
A double vote that Moscow tried to influence thanks also to the discontent with the difficult economic situation. Fake news was spread through a series of Telegram channels, which were subsequently closed, and several vote-swapping attempts were discovered.
Two people were arrested for buying 130,000 votes. There would be behind these operations Ilon Shor, oligarch philorussowho fled to Moscow 10 years ago after making a billion dollars disappear from three banks. Through a telegram channel, Evrazia, recently closed, he spread disinformation against joining Europe and Maya Sandu.
The first partial results
With 70% of the votes counted, 55% of voters have so far said they are against the inclusion of the European objective in the Constitutionor. The result, however, is partial, because many votes from the more pro-European capital Chisinau and the votes of Moldovans abroad remain to be counted.
The outgoing Head of State, Maia Sandu, who turned her back on Moscow after the invasion of neighboring Ukraine and brought her country’s candidacy to Brussels, had called this referendum to validate her strategy.
Moldova already has a foot in the EU with the official opening of accession negotiations in June
