Moldova’s presidential election will go to a second round, preliminary results showed early on Monday, after a pro-Russian socialist candidate fell short of winning sufficient support to achieve all-out victory. With 99.5 percent of votes counted, preliminary results showed candidate Igor Dodon, who wants to reverse Moldova’s course toward European integration, had won 48.5 percent, and his main pro-European challenger, Maia Sandu, had 38.2 percent. Dodon needed to win 51 percent of votes to avoid a run-off on Nov. 13. “I hope that the results of today’s vote and of the Nov. 13 run-off will bring about both change and stability: change by the election by popular vote of a pro-European president; stability in the functioning of a reform-driven triangle – president, government, Parliament,” Prime Minister Pavel Filip said in a statement. The Central Election Commission will announce the final results of the first round within the next five days.
The ex-Soviet republic of 3.5 million, squeezed between Ukraine and European Union member Romania, plunged into turmoil in 2015 after the disclosure that $1 billion had disappeared from the banking system.
Street protests erupted and the International Monetary Fund and the European Union froze aid to Moldova.
Former Prime Minister Vlad Filat, one of five to hold that office in three years, was implicated, handcuffed live on TV in parliament and later jailed. But many Moldovans believe other members of the pro-EU elite were complicit in the scam.
Full Article: Pro-Russian candidate to face second round in Moldova presidential vote | Reuters.