The mobilization of Moldovan voters, especially of those from outside the country , is more in favor of the candidate of the Party “Action and Solidarity” Maia Sandu, consider political analysts Nicolae Negru and Corneliu Ciurea. Ion Manole, head of “Promo-LEX” Association that monitored the voting process, said the voters in the Transnistrian region became more active. On the other hand, Ion Dron, head of the Center for Initiatives and Public Authorities Monitoring, noted the voter turnout was yet modest. The opinions were stated in a special debate program on the public TV channel Moldova 1, IPN reports.
Nicolae Negru said he believes the massive mobilization of voters is more in favor of Maia Sandu, who was short of votes in the first round of presidential elections. He criticized the way in which the elections were organized, especially because many Moldovans abroad were unable to vote owing to a shortage of ballots.
Corneliu Ciurea stated the presidential runoff was mobilizing because the struggle polarized. “Maia Sandu needed this mobilization as oxygen. It’s not clear how this will serve her. It is yet clear that the people had hope, especially those from the diaspora. On the other hand, those from Gagauzia and those from the Transnistrian region also became involved more,” he said.
Ion Dron said it was normal for more pronounced mobilization to be witnessed in the runoff vote as those who didn’t go to vote in the first round of elections knew that they will vote in the runoff, especially because there were too many candidates for President in the first round. However, the turnout was modest. If it had been over 65%, civic activism would have been really shown.
Ion Manole said the voters in Moldova were more passive than those from the diaspora. “We saw that this time, the people from the left bank of the Nistru became more actively involved, but we do not know if they were forced to. Depending on the result, we will see if we can say that the Transnistrians elected the President of the Republic of Moldova,” he stated.
The voter turnout in the presidential runoff was 53%. The turnout among Moldovan voters abroad was twice higher than in the first round of voting.
