The Governor of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia Mihail Formuzal told a news conference that he was contented with the results of the elections in the municipality of Comrat and with the fact that the electors gave their votes to independent candidates, as he urged them. Mihail Formuzal said the election outcome should make the political parties ponder over as they lose popularity, Info-Prim Neo reports. “The elections were held in a democratic way, without interventions on the part of other institutions and challenges about the voting process. The people took my advice into account and voted mainly for independents,” said Mihai Formuzal. He also said that a record number of independent candidates entered the municipal council and local councils in Gagauzia this year. According to Mihai Formuzal, if the political parties do not work on their image, the independents may win more votes in the future local and parliamentary elections. Mihail Formuzal said he did not abandon his project to create regional parties in the Gagauz autonomy. In this case, the Chisinau political parties will have to sign agreements with the regional parties, under which to delegate by a member to represent their interests. As to the election of the mayor of Comrat, Mihai Formuzal said he will respect the voters’ will. “If the population is satisfied with the mayor they elected, the Governor is also satisfied,” he stated. 35.5% of the votes cast in the local elections in Comrat municipality were given to independent candidates for councilors. In the mayoral elections, 14 Gagauz settlements of the 26 elected their mayors by one round. Eleven mayors are independents. The seats on the Comrat Municipal Council were distributed as follows: the PCRM – four seats, the PDM – two seats, the PLDM – two seats, the PSD – one seat, the Labor Party – one seat, the Sociopolitical Movement “Ravnopravie” – 1 seat, the Third Force Bloc – one seat. These seats represent 44.4% of the vote. The other 55.6% will be occupied by independents.