The electoral score of the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) in the country’s large towns and northern districts is a semi-failure of the government, said the deputy director of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) Mihai Mogîldea. In the same connection, IMAS director Doru Petruți said the results of the local elections showed that the image of the PAS worsened as the party lost at least 20% of the voters compared with the parliamentary elections of 2021, IPN reports.

Mihai Mogîldea noted that the absence of PAS candidates in a number of towns of Moldova is a problem for a ruling party. Ion Ceban’s victory in Chisinau was predictable as the PAS team had an amorphous campaign.

“If we look at the large towns and the North region, we see a semi-failure of the PAS. In Chisinau, in particular, there is disappointment and lack of enthusiasm and such a state began to take shape in summer. They had an anemic campaign and didn’t invest much in this campaign. In general, they had a weak performance in Chisinau. In Balti, the situation is similar. I would also add the four large towns in the South - Comrat, Ceadîr-Lunga, Vulcănești, and Taraclia - where the PAS didn’t even have candidates. When the ruling party has financing of millions of lei from the public budget, the absence of candidates and teams in towns generates questions as to the organization of this party, its capacity to mobilize the people, particularly in electoral exercises,” Mihai Mogîldea stated in the program “Résumé” on RliveTV channel.

In the same connection, sociologist Doru Petruți said the results of the local elections confirmed the data of pre-electoral polls, which showed that the PAS declined in voters’ preferences. The ruling party isolated itself from the other parties and this fact can leave the PAS in the opposition at the local level.

“If the pro-European current manages to garner only slightly over 30% in the Republic of Moldova, we have a very big problem. If we compare these figures with the results achieved at the parliamentary elections, which were held only two years ago, we will see that the ruling party has a semi-catastrophic evolution. In the PAS’s fiefdom – I refer to the central part and Chisinau – if we take district by district, we see a decline of the PAS between 20% and 30% if not more in the districts were they won over 50% - 60% only two years ago. Beyond figures, those from the PAS should be concerned about the fact that they remain politically isolated. We will see who will accept to form an alliance with them at district level,” stated the IMAS director Doru Petruți.

According to preliminary data presented by the Central Election Commission, the Party of Action and Solidarity obtained the best score in 19 districts and 244 PAS mayors won a victory by the first round of voting. Also, the PAS got 20 seats on the Chisinau Municipal Council out of the 51 seats.