The Party of Socialists’ Igor Dodon beat challenger Maia Sandu in a runoff vote on Sunday, with 52.3% of the vote to 47.7% for his pro-European rival. Dodon is known for his pro-Russian statements, promising to rule “like Putin”, and declaring that Crimea is Russian territory (with no hint of disapproval).
A cursory look at his campaign literature and his record hits all the pro-Russian talking points — defence of Orthodoxy and “traditional family values”, plus a firm strategic partnership with Russia. His campaign also plays on minorities’ fears of reunion with neighbouring Romania, a marginal but old bugbear in Moldovan politics. [...]
His former colleagues nurtured grudges; the ailing communist party boycotted the election. However, Dodon gained the support of his erstwhile rival Renato Usatii, whose candidate Ciubașcenco took 6% of the vote in the first round. Voting patterns were similar, with the north and south of the country voted strongly for Dodon, and historically pro-Russian autonomous region Gagauzia giving him 99%. The breakaway region of Transnistria played a part, too — over 16,000 Moldovan citizens living there cast votes, the vast majority probably for Dodon.
In its preliminary report, the OSCE has ruled the elections to be largely free and fair, though a polarised media environment and opaque party finances remained a problem. A number of polling stations overseas also ran out of ballots — one of several reasons why Maia Sandu has called on the head of the electoral commission to resign, and has threatened to challenge the result in court.
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