President Maia Sandu, who is running for a second term in office, invited her challenger Alexandr Stoianoglo to participate together with her in a debate on how they see Moldova’s future this week. “Let the people hear us and decide,” Maia Sandu said at a press briefing, adding that all the details will be discussed with the team of the Party of Socialists’ candidate, IPN reports. 

Maia Sandu said that the people of the Republic of Moldova have spoken, and the majority have endorsed the European path. “Every vote was decisive – from within the country and from all corners of the world – each vote was equally important. Yesterday and today, we proved that the phrase “every vote counts” is not just empty words. I am grateful to all the citizens who voted and freely expressed what they want for Moldova," said Maia Sandu. “We fought fairly and won fairly in an unjust struggle.”

According to the head of state, what happened on election day, and in the past two years, is an assault on democracy and the Moldovan people’s freedom, an assault on the people’s aspiration to be part of the European family of peace. “Unfortunately, the justice system failed to do enough to prevent vote theft and corruption. Here too we must draw a line, correct what went wrong, and learn the lesson. We heard you: we know we must do more to fight corruption. Right now, the only way we can defend our democracy is through voting,” said Maia Sandu.

A runoff election involving the two candidates with the most votes in the first round will be held in Moldova in two weeks. According to preliminary data, with 99.64% of the vote reports counted, Maia Sandu won 42.37% of the vote on October 20, and Alexandr Stoianoglo – 26.02%.