PAS nominating him too late and a lack of genuine debates were among the factors that Lilian Carp thinks made him lose the Chisinau mayoral race to the incumbent Ion Ceban. Carp believes the Electoral Code must be amended to make it mandatory for all candidates or their surrogates to participate in debates.

“When we began our campaign, opinion polls were giving Ion Ceban a 65 percent or even 68 percent chance of winning, so our goal was to reach the second round and get the edge there. There are several factors that influenced the current outcome. This includes a late nomination and the campaign being rather dull. Had we had the opportunity of a real debate, I would have highlighted that the Ceban administration lacks transparency, that it has taken out so many loans from commercial banks on projects that are not worth it, and at very high interest rates too, of nearly 23 percent. But we had no genuine debates. I think that the Electoral Code needs to be amended so that the candidates, or at least their surrogates, are required to take part in debates”, said Lilian Carp during a public-affairs show on TVR Moldova.

Meanwhile, DA Platform president Dinu Plîngău thinks it was right-wing infighting and the inability to unite behind a common candidate that brough Ion Ceban a second term. DA Platform’s own candidate, Victor Chironda, came fourth with 3.82% of the vote.

“Ion Ceban was left at his own devices, forgotten by the politicians in the central government. Moreover, against the backdrop of the multiple troubles in the central government, Ceban did lay some pavement after all. He was able to present himself as a better manager than those who are in government today. From my point of view, the right-wing forces should have nominated a common, more representative candidate, instead of fighting one another. We had many candidates on the right who stole each other’s votes. We and our candidate Victor Chironda clearly defined Ion Ceban as our only opponent. We decided not to attack anyone on the right, but there were attacks from the other candidates and that created an off-putting effect among voters”, Dinu Plîngău said during the same show.

According to preliminary results, Ion Ceban was re-elected in the very first round with 50.62% of the vote. Lilian Carp came in second place with 28.23%. The turnout was 40.96%.