Moving West: Moldova
Photograph of Moldovan President Maia Sandu speaking to the press after voting in Chișinău, Moldova. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press and Aurel Obreja.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s pro-European ‘Party of Action and Solidarity’ (PAS) swept July’s snap parliamentary elections.
Ms Sandu was elected president on a liberal and Europeanist platform in July 2020 (see article: Looking West: Moldova) and has spent much of her presidency moving Moldova towards integration with the European Union and out of Russia’s political sphere.
The snap election was triggered when Prime-Minister Ion Chicu, an ally of former President Igor Dodon, resigned amidst calls for early elections, according to Al Jazeera. Parties and lawmakers loyal to the former president had blocked many of Ms Sandu’s proposed reforms.
Independent politician and career diplomat Aureliu Ciocoi has held the post of Prime-Minister since Mr Chicu’s resignation.
Although more than twenty parties competed in the election, only three parties came out with seats in the parliament.
PAS took a dozen more seats in the parliament than required for a majority, giving it a clear mandate. The Moscow-friendly ‘Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists’ (BECS) sustained minor losses, becoming the second-largest group in parliament.
The Șor Party, led by business Ilan Shor, who was convicted of fraud and money-laundering charges in absentia by a lower court, as reported by Reuters, earned six seats in the parliament. Mr Shor denies all wrongdoing and is currently living in Israel.
The largest losses came from the liberal ‘Dignity and Truth Platform Party’ and pro-European ‘Democratic Party of Moldova’, both of which lost all of their seats in the parliament.
The result gives Ms Sandu much-needed support in the Moldovan legislature as she moves the country away from Moscow’s sphere of influence.
Ms Sandu promises to deliver honest governance and stability to Moldova, which has been rocked by years of political crises and corruption.
It is still unclear who will take the permanent post as Prime-Minister.
With the socialists firmly out of power, Ms Sandu will now likely be able to move more legislation through the parliament and end her year-long battle with Mr Dodon’s bloc.
Sources:
‘Pro-EU party leads in Moldova parliamentary election: Early count’. Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera Media Network, 11 July 2021,
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/11/pro-european-party-leads-in-moldova-elections-early-count
Tanas, Alexander. ‘Pro-Western party wins Moldova election, preliminary data shows’. Reuters, Thomas Reuters Corporation, 19 July 2021,