Moldova - Elections 2020
The 01 November 2020 election was a neck-and-neck rematch of the country's 2016 election, in which pro-Russian Socialist Party founder Igor Dodon, 45, defeated the pro-Western financial technocrat Maia Sandu in a second-round runoff by less than 5 percent. From June until November 2019, Sandu served as prime minister until Dodon pushed her out after a dispute over who should name the chief prosecutor. Now Dodon and Sandu were the leading contenders in a field of eight candidates. Polls show Dodon with about 23 percent support followed by Sandu with about 20 percent, and nearly 27 percent of the electorate still undecided. In the second round run-off, Sandu, a former World Bank economist who favors closer ties with the European Union, defeated the Russia-backed incumbent Igor Dodon, but parliament is still dominated by the pro-Moscow Socialists aligned with Dodon.
The 2016 election was dogged by allegations of fraud, particularly that former oligarch Vlad Plahotnuic, who is now a fugitive facing massive money-laundering charges, used his massive media network to support Dodon and discredit Sandu and that he pressured or bribed the leader of the Russia-backed breakaway Transdniester region to mobilize its voters to back Dodon.
Sandu, a 48-year-old economist who heads the Party of Action and Solidarity, admits her campaign is fighting an uphill battle. "It is easiest for those who own seven or eight television channels…to reach the voters," she told RFE/RL. "It is easiest for those who lie constantly and make up their achievements and pour filth over their opponents. That is the easiest way to influence voters and that is what Igor Dodon, who controls so many television channels in Moldova, is doing."
While Dodon has emphasized stability, Sandu has pledged to combat corruption and end Moldova's "isolation." She notes that in four years as president, Dodon has never visited neighboring Ukraine or the country's leading trading partner and western neighbor, Romania. According to a survey by the International Republican Institute in August, more than 70 percent of Moldovans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. Voters said the most pressing issues for them were unemployment, low wages, poor governance, and the coronavirus.
In late October 2020, Socialist Party parliament deputy Bogdan Tirdea published a booklet entitled "Civil Society In The Republic Of Moldova: Sponsors, NGOcracy, Culture Wars". In the booklet, Tirdea alleged that Moldova was engulfed in a network of NGOs that are like "an octopus that has infiltrated all branches of power, the mass media, and academia." He alleged that organizations are funded from abroad for the purpose of "denigrating particular politicians and parties and for supporting others."
Iulian Groza, former deputy foreign minister and director of the Chisinau-based Institute of European Policies And Reforms, told RFE/RL that Tirdea's accusations were "characteristic of undemocratic, corrupt, and authoritarian political regimes." He said "Such actions are intended to discredit civil society, which is a fundamental part of our democratic institutions.... They send a very bad signal to Moldovan society."
Moscow reinforced such allegations. Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergei Naryshkin issued a statement on October 19 accusing the United States of interfering in the internal affairs of "countries friendly to Moscow." Naryshkin said "We clearly see that the Americans are preparing a 'revolutionary' scenario for Moldova... They are not satisfied with the current head of the government, [Igor] Dodon, who favors constructive relations with the countries of the [Commonwealth of Independent States], including Russia."
The same day that parliamentarian Tirdea published his book slamming Moldovan civil society, the NGO Dossier -- which is financed by former Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin -- and the Moldovan NGO RISE Moldova published an investigative report charging that Moscow was manipulating Dodon and aiding his campaign. In addition, the report claimed Dodon is managed by an office within Putin's presidential administration that is headed by SVR General Vladimir Chernov, who reports to both Deputy Chief of Staff Dmitry Kozak and SVR head Naryshkin.
Dodon had been the favorite to win the election due to Moldova's heavily partisan media, with the majority of TV channels and news outlets controlled by pro-Moscow parties. Moldova's Russian-speaking minority was expected to vote heavily for Dodon.
Moldova’s presidential election headed to a runoff after no candidate earned a majority in a first round of voting which, however, gave a narrow lead to a pro-Western candidate. The pro-Western former prime minister, Maia Sandu, will face the staunchly pro-Russian incumbent, Igor Dodon, in the second round of voting on November 15, the country’s central election commission announced 02 November 2020. With more than 99 percent of the votes counted from Sunday’s first round, which narrowed the field from eight to two candidates, Sandu had nearly 36 percent compared with nearly 33 percent for Dodon.
Dodon had not fulfilled his election promises made four years ago, and had also failed to realize his opportunities in the Russian direction. Russia has slipped into third place among the foreign trade partners of Moldova, despite the fact that Dodon always called it the first. Russian language has not been returned to Moldovan schools to the extent that it was previously. Russian programs never started showing again on local television. All this could have been done, especially since Dodon had both parliament and government in his hands. However, he went the other way and lost. He was unable to mobilize the nuclear electorate, his campaign was conducted very inertly.
Moldovan society is tired of geopolitical discussions in recent years. Most of the citizens also want a European quality of life with a low level of corruption and fair judicial bodies, but at the same time, they do not exchange it for cultural and economic proximity with Russia and access to the traditional markets for their products - the post-Soviet countries.
The second round of the presidential elections took place in Moldova just two weeks after the first. Maia Sandu, leader of the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party, became the new president of Moldova. According to official figures, she won 57 percent of the vote in the second round of elections. Domestically, the gap between Dodon and Sandu was about 3 percent in favor of the latter, according to the Central Election Commission. The incumbent president received more than 85 percent of the votes of the residents of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), but their support did not save him from defeat. A significant role was played by Sandu's convincing victory at polling stations abroad - a record 93 percent of voters living outside Moldova voted for her.
Moldova's Socialist-controlled parliament approved legislation stripping President-elect Maia Sandu of control over the country's intelligence service and moving it back under lawmakers' jurisdiction just weeks before she takes office. The bill was approved on 03 December 2020 despite thousands of Sandu supporters protesting in central Chisinau. The Socialists argued that since Moldova was a parliamentary republic, control over the intelligence service should be handed to parliament.
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