Moldova: Sunday Voting in Presidential Election, EU Accession Referendum
According to opinion polls, 63% of Moldovan voters support hypothetical membership in the European Union
On Sunday, October 20, some 3.3 million eligible voters, of whom only 2.7 million live in Moldova, will be called to the polls to elect the president of this former Soviet republic, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, and to have their say in the consultative referendum on Moldova’s European future.
As for the presidential elections, this time designed to challenge outgoing President Maia Sandu (pictured), there is no longer a pro-Russian leader of the Socialist Party and former Moldovan President Igor Dodon, who decided not to participate in the electoral race, leaving this role to former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo. According to the Moldovan press, Stoianoglo is a less well-known and popular political figure than Dodon, so he runs the risk of not passing against Sandu, “who is confident of going at least to the second round, thanks to 36% confirmed in the majority of votes of the preferences in the latest polls,” while 10% of voters would like to vote for Stoianoglo.
Renato Usatii (7.5% of possible votes), the former mayor of Balti, the second largest city after the capital Chisinau, rounds out the top three most favored candidates in the Moldovan presidential election. Usatii ran in the 2020 presidential election and came third behind Sandu and Dodon. In total, Moldovan voters will find 11 candidates on the ballot, many of whom have little chance of making it to the second round. A possible presidential runoff election will be held on November 3.
In a consultative referendum, citizens will be asked to decide whether to include in the text of the Constitution “a reference to European Union membership as an irreversible goal for Moldova’s future.” According to recent opinion polls, 63% of Moldovan voters favor European integration, an increase in recent months that has brought that percentage up from 57 percent last April. If the polls are confirmed in Sunday’s election, there will be little doubt about the outcome of the consultative referendum.