EPAMaia Sandu arrives at press conference in Chisinau after disappointing result
Moldova’s referendum on whether to amend its constitution and commit to joining the EU is in a delicate situation, with evenly split “no” and “yes” votes.
With 49.6% in favor and 50.3% against, the vote count was 97%, a result that few people expected in recent polls to expect a comfortable victory.
The pro-EU president, Maia Sandu, earlier accused the narrow result of being the product of foreign interference in Moldovan politics.
He cited widespread allegations that Russia paid people to vote a certain way, calling it an “unprecedented attack on democracy,” which the Russian government said I’m denying it.
Moldovans voted in Sunday’s presidential election as well as in a referendum on constitutional reforms.
The vote was seen as a key test for the country, which faces a choice between pursuing EU membership or maintaining close ties with Russia.
Although Sandu came out on top in the first round of the election, he won 41% of the vote, a much lower margin than expected, and faces a difficult second round in early November, in which the opposition will unite against Mr. Sandu.
EPAVoter turnout for the two rounds of voting exceeded 50%.
She accused “criminal groups” of working with “foreign powers” to use money, lies and propaganda to sway the vote.
Sandu also said the government had “clear evidence” that 300,000 votes were bought, calling it “fraud on an unprecedented scale.”
The Kremlin categorically denies involvement in the vote-buying allegations.
Moldova is currently in talks with the EU towards membership. These accession negotiations will continue despite Sunday’s result, as the referendum was not legally binding.
But the vote was supposed to make the process irreversible. In fact, I feel a little unstable right now.
Since Sandu did not receive more than half of the votes, he and his second candidate, Aleksandr Stoianoglo, who is backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party, will face a run-off election on November 3.
Mr Stoianogro won with 27%, far exceeding expectations.
Populist Renato Usati came in third place, followed by former Gagauzia governor Irina Vula.
If other candidates endorse Stoianoglo before the second round, Sandu could be at real risk of not being re-elected.
The atmosphere was very subdued at Sandu’s campaign headquarters on Sunday evening, with one of his advisers saying the results so far were “not what we expected.”
Sandu, who has forged close ties with Moldova’s EU neighbors, had been campaigning for a yes vote in the referendum. He previously said the vote would decide Moldova’s future “for decades to come.”
When initial results began to show that the negative vote was better than expected, Sandhu’s team attributed the disappointing result to the initial tally from villages and rural areas.
Although tallies in major cities had narrowed the gap in the opposition vote, by 1 a.m. (10 p.m. Japan time) few people thought the yes camp still had a chance.
Many of Mr. Sandu’s supporters left his headquarters in Chisinau, where they had expected to celebrate his victory, before the end of vote counting. The small EU flags they were given to wave were left on chairs or scattered on the ground.
“Whatever they were planning seems to have worked,” Sandu’s adviser suggested, referring to Russia-linked vote-buying allegations.
When voting ended at 21:00 local time (18:00 GMT), turnout exceeded 51% and the referendum was valid.
As the night progressed, the gap narrowed further.
Several presidential candidates boycotted the referendum. Alexandre Stoianoglo said he did not support the idea of changing the constitution, but added that he supported his country’s “European aspirations.”
However, many young people lining up at voting stations on Sunday were vocal in their support for Moldova’s future as an EU member state, with some choosing their country’s European future for the sake of their economy and economy. Some people said they were voting because they wanted to. For more opportunities.
Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Moldova’s independence, some said they were tired of being “pulled around” by Moscow.
“We have to choose a European future for our countries, for our children, for our future. For geopolitics, for peace, that’s the most important thing,” Oksana, a voter, told the BBC. “Because we are located between European and Russian influences and we have to choose what we want.”
The BBC stumbled upon evidence of vote-buying at a polling station for residents of the Moldova independent region of Transnistria, which is economically, politically and militarily supported by Russia.
A BBC producer heard a woman who had just dropped her ballot into a transparent box ask an election observer: “Where will I get paid?”
We directly asked her outside if she had been offered cash to vote and she admitted it without any hesitation. She was angry that the man who drove her to the polling station stopped answering the phone. “He deceived me!” she said.
When asked who she voted for, she did not answer.
Fugitive businessman Ilan Shor, accused of funneling large sums of cash from Russia to Moldova in September, will persuade “as many people as possible” to vote no or abstain in the EU referendum. provided funds for.
This week Mr Schor released a video statement urging people to vote for “anyone but Sandu” in the presidential election.
