The withdrawal of the Democratic Party’s leader Marian Lupu from the race for the presidency is interpreted differently by political commentators. While some think the intention of the Democrats is sincere and is designed to support Maia Sandu, who is the pro-European candidate with the biggest chances of winning, others consider the goal pursued by the Democrats is to confuse the voters and help Socialist candidate Igor Dodon win the elections by the first round of voting.
Contacted by IPN, independent expert Corneliu Ciurea said that most probably the PDM consulted opinion polls that show that Maia Sandu has bigger chances and decided to make an intelligent move, offering Maia Sandu a free passage and maximizing thus her chances of victory in the runoff elections before the Party of Socialists’ leader Igor Dodon. Earlier, the first deputy chairman of the PDM Vlad Plahotniuc repeatedly said that he prefers a pro-European leader to win the elections and now understands that Marian Lupu does not have chances to beat Maia Sandu now that this was nominated as the joint candidate of the center-right opposition. “I think the PDM will continue to be rather consistent and will support the candidate of the right,” stated Corneliu Ciurea.
Political commentator Ion Tabarta has told IPN that it is hard to believe that the PDM sincerely withdrew from the race in favor of Maia Sandu. Judging by appearances, by such a decision the Democratic Party admitted that it has low chances of reaching the runoff vote, though it conducted a massive campaign to raise Marian Lupu to the level of Igor Dodon. The party left things somehow in suspense. Now the Socialists will make effort to secure Igor Dodon’s victory by the first round of voting as this has more chances of beating Maia Sandu in the first round than in the runoff elections. There is also a negative transfer of image from the leaders of the PDM to Maia Sandu. Such a campaign was started long ago by sympathizers of the Party of Socialists and now this will be intensified.
Political commentator Lina Grau considers the withdrawal of the PDM’s candidate is rather a planned scenario. On the one hand, they want to avoid a dishonorable result for Marian Lupu in the presidential elections. On the other hand, this measure could have been taken to support the Socialist candidate Igor Dodon. The issuing of a warrant for the arrest of the leader of “Our Party” Renato Usatyi is also an action aimed at supporting Igor Dodon, who is interested in attracting the supporters of “Our Party”.
Lina Grau anticipates that a part of the supporters of the Democratic Party will refuse to vote in elections, while another part will migrate to other candidates. It is yet highly improbable that the Democratic electors will vote for Maia Sandu. This action by the Democratic Party could ensure Igor Dodon’s victory by the first round of elections.
