Of the 11 candidates who managed to collect the necessary signatures from voters, only one will take over the management of the country for the next four years. The decision will be taken at the polls on October 20. IPN News Agency provides a comprehensive description of each presidential election candidate, including their professional and personal background, held positions, declared income and property, as well as their promises for the future of the Republic of Moldova. Know the candidates, choose responsibly!
Andrei Năstase is contending in the presidential election as an independent candidate.
He is 49 years old and was born in Mândrești village of Telenesti district. He graduated from two universities: “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, the Faculty of History and Geography, and “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, the Faculty of Law.
He began his career in 1997 as a prosecutor. From 2002 to 2015, he worked in the law office “Andrei Năstase”. He was also an assistant to the prosecutor at the Transport Prosecutor’s Office, but also deputy director of Air Moldova company.
Andrei Năstase’s name appeared in the public space of the Republic of Moldova in 2013, being one of the founding members of the Dignity and Truth Civic Platform and its leader. Later, the platform was transformed into an opposition center-right political party. Năstase is known for organizing and conducting a number of antigovernment protests between 2015 and 2018. He was the head of the Initiative Group for the initiation of the national referendum on amending the Constitution to introduce the election and dismissal of the President directly, by the people, on limiting parliamentary immunity and the number of MPs.
In June 2018, he was elected mayor of the capital city, but the election outcome was annulled by the court on the grounds that he campaigned on election day. In February 2019, he entered Parliament after running for the seat of MP in constituency No. 33 and on the list of the ACUM Bloc. Shortly afterward, he renounced his mandate in favor of the position of Minister of the Interior. In the autumn of 2019, he ran for mayor of Chisinau on behalf of the electoral bloc “ACUM Platform DA and PAS”, but was defeated with a difference of more than 5% in the runoff by incumbent mayor Ion Ceban, who was then nominated by the Socialists. In the 2020 presidential election, he ran on behalf of the DA Platform and obtained 3.26% of the vote. Three years ago, the entire leadership of the Dignity and Truth Platform, including Andrei Năstase, tendered their resignations in a meeting of the National Political Bureau.
In the property declaration for 2023, Andrei Năstase’s family indicated incomes of €107,000 earned from a German company. The candidate also declared an allowance of 295,000 lei for work done as councilor on the Chisinau Municipal Council, six plots of land, most of which were acquired in 2010, a car worth €41,000. He is the owner of half of two apartments and two garages. The candidate also declared two houses, both obtained through donation.
Andrei Nastase, who is running in a presidential election for the third time, said that the position of President will give him the power to mobilize state institutions to act in the interests of justice. In the launch of his campaign, which he held in front of the Presidential Palace, he said that he will always remain dedicated to tradition and family, to caring for children, who are now born abroad in a larger number than in the country. Andrei Năstase aims to get Moldova out of poverty “with a budget made for the people, with strong industrialization of the economy, with large domestic and foreign investments, and as a result, providing money for pensions, salaries, better education, accessible and quality healthcare services”.
The candidate is committed to ensuring the economic stability of the country, his priorities being to support local businesses, improve infrastructure and reduce bureaucracy. His electoral plan provides for attracting foreign investments by providing a clear and fair legal framework so that all the Moldovans benefit from economic growth. He undertakes to promote tax reforms to balance the budget and provide tax incentives for such sectors as agriculture, technology and manufacturing.
In order to strengthen Moldova’s energy security, the candidate aims to diversify energy imports, thus ensuring the country’s energy stability and independence.
Another promise is that he will restore tax and customs concessions for all residents of the Free Economic Zone (FEZ), including newcomers. At the same time, Năstase advocates cancelling the income tax of companies that are residents of the FEZ. The candidate also considers that the term of operation of the free zones should be standardized and extended until 2050 or for an estimated period of 10 years after the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union. Andrei Năstase says that he will assume the costs associated with the setting up of critical infrastructure for the new residents of the FEZ, which creates over 100 jobs.
On the ballot paper for the October 20 election, Andrei Năstase is under No. 7.
