The Party of Socialists of Moldova withdrew its candidate for the mayoralty of Chisinau Valentin Krylov and announced they will support the PCRM’s candidate Igor Dodon. However, Valentin Krylov remained in the race for a seat on the Chisinau Municipal Council, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We intend to support Igor Dodon during the last election days and thus withdrew Valentin Krylov from the electoral race,” said the party’s chairman Eduard Smirnov. According to Smirnov, the recent surveys showed that the electoral battle will be between Igor Dodon and Dorin Chirtoaca, who significantly outrun the other contenders by the number of votes. The Party of Socialists does not support Dorin Chirtoaca because this would mean supporting Mihai Ghimpu’s political program. Eduard Smirnov said the Party of Socialists is confidently taking part in the local elections, underlining that the party’s platform is based on professionalism, experience and patriotism. He also said that Igor Dodon is a good specialist, economist and manager, who can stabilize the economic situation in the municipality of Chisinau and make the work of the Chisinau Council more efficient. “My withdrawal from the race does not mean capitulation. We took such a decision following the results of the opinion polls. We decided to support Igor Dodon not owing to his political orientation, but because he is a professional,” said Valentin Krylov. According to him, the Party of Socialists considers it is now opportune for the patriotic forces that make Moldova a sovereign, independent, territorially integral and neutral state to unite. Valentin Krylov tops the Party of Socialists’ list of candidates for seats on the Chisinau Municipal Council.