The pro-European candidate Maia Sandu has managed to prevail in the second round of the presidential elections in Moldova held this Sunday with 57 percent of the support, after the scrutiny of more than 99 percent of the electoral records, the Central Electoral Commission has reported (CCE) of the country.
Sandu, from the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), has thus defeated the outgoing president and candidate considered to be close to Russia, Igor Dodon, who has obtained 43 percent of the votes.
According to CCE data, more than 1.4 million voters went to the polls, representing a quota of more than 47 percent. Although to win the presidential mandate it is necessary to have at least 50 percent of the support, in the second round the country’s legislation does not contemplate a minimum participation.
Slightly more than 200,000 voters have voted in polling stations set up abroad. The center enabled for this purpose in Paris has been the one that has registered the highest activity, with more than 4,600 voters, while in Frankfurt, Germany, where about 4,500 votes have been counted, there was a bomb alert, although it was finally about a false alarm, according to Moldovan television Channel 2.
Moldova, a former Soviet republic in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and Romania, has long been divided between the two aspirations, a schism that is reflected in these elections.
As president, Dodon has sought support in Russia to save Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, which has been on the brink of economic collapse in recent years.
Sandu, 48, served as prime minister for several months during Dodon’s first term before losing office on a vote of no confidence. Her program has presented the option of further integration with the EU as a way out of the economic crisis.
Dodon, 45, previously beat Sandu in a runoff in the 2016 election, but has lagged slightly behind Sandu in the first round of the 2020 vote earlier this month.
