If a presidential election was held next Sunday, 33.7% of the electors would vote for Maia Sandu. At a big difference there are Alexandr Stoianoglo – 11.5% (the candidate supported by the PSRM), and Renato Usatyi – 10.8%, according to the Socio-Political Barometer (May 2024), conducted by IMAS. If only the respondents who have a voting option are taken into account, 41.5% would vote for Maia Sandu, 14.2% for Alexandr Stoianoglo and 13.3% for Renato Usatyi.

In a news conference hosted by IPN, IMAS director general Doru Petruți said that 44% of the respondents believe that the presidential election of this autumn will be won by incumbent President Maia Sandu. 40% consider the election will be won by an opposition candidate, and 16% did not know what to say on this subject.

56% of the respondents think the upcoming presidential election will not be free and fair, 37% said the opposite, and 7% did not know or did not want to answer. At the same time, 78% believe that there will be many or some frauds in the autumn presidential election. 37% believe that Maia Sandu deserves to win another term, and 58% consider that another person should come to the office of President. Also, 77% of the respondents are convinced that there will be a runoff presidential election.

If parliamentary elections were held next Sunday, over 31% of those polled would vote for the PAS, over 19% for the BCS, over 10% for Victory Electoral Bloc, and 5.5% for Our Party. The Victoria Bloc would gain 14% of the vote, and Our Party – over 7%.

Some 36% of the respondents believe that the country is following a good direction. Doru Petruți noted that over 80% of the voters of the PAS and Maia Sandu answered this way. Voters from other parties, who consider the direction is good, constitute less than 20%.

40% of the respondents do not know what the referendum that will take place on the day of the presidential election will be used for. 59% – know. According to Doru Petruți, if a good turnout at the referendum is desired, a greater communication and information effort is needed. In the same vein, 58% of those surveyed said that the referendum should take place independently of the presidential election.

The survey also shows that 71% of the respondents believe that Maia Sandu is directly responsible for the work of the PAS government, and 54% say that the President is also responsible for the failure of the justice sector reform. Also, 75% of those interviewed consider that there is corruption in the PAS government.

The sociological research was commissioned by Romania’s Independent News and was carried out during July 8-21, 2024. It covered a sample of 1,093 respondents from 90 localities. The margin of sampling error is ±3%.

Note: IPN Agency offers the right of reply to persons who consider they were affected by the news articles produced based on the statements of the organizers of this press conference, including by facilitating the organization of another press conference under similar conditions.