Moscow, Nov. 3, (dpa/GNA) – The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed overall approval of Moldova’s presidential election in an assessment announced on Monday.
The campaigning was competitive, “fundamental freedoms were respected,” and the electoral authorities “organized technical aspects of the election professionally,” said OSCE mission head Corien Jonker.
However, accusations of foreign influence sometimes overshadowed the race, and allegations of vote-buying have persisted, Jonker told a livestreamed press conference in Chisinau.
While the media landscape as a whole provided for balanced coverage of the candidates, the OSCE noted, polarization of particular media outlets led to biased coverage.
Moldova’s pro-Russian incumbent, Igor Dodon, fell slightly behind his pro-EU rival, Maia Sandu, when all votes of the presidential election’s first round were counted, state media reported.
Those two top candidates were set for a run-off election in two weeks, on November 15.
Sandu received 36.16 per cent of the votes in the election’s first round on Sunday, whereas Dodon received 32.61 per cent, state news agency Moldpres reported, citing the national electoral authority.
Voter turnout was reported at 42.76 per cent, surpassing the one-third threshold required for the election to be valid.
Dodon announced after the vote that he would take a vacation from his regular duties as president to dedicate more time to campaigning, according to comments carried by state media.
Moldova, a former Soviet republic in Eastern Europe between Ukraine and EU state Romania, has long been divided between aspirations to more closely integrate with the European Union and loyalties to its former ruler, Moscow.
Dodon, 45, previously beat Sandu in a run-off election in 2016. He has looked to Russia for support as Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, has teetered near economic collapse in recent years.
Sandu, 48, served as prime minister for several months during Dodon’s first term before being ousted in a vote of no-confidence. She has presented further integration with the EU as way out of the economic crisis.
GNA