The result of the presidential election of October 20 is predictable, and the big battle is for the referendum, said the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova Ion Sturza. According to him, all the political forces that oppose the European integration have intensified their messages against the referendum on amending the Constitution. A modest result in the referendum would mean missing a historic opportunity for the country to join the European Union, IPN reports.
According to ex-Premier Sturza, there are high chances that Maia Sandu will get a new term in office as President in the first round of voting. In an eventual runoff vote, the battle will be between Maia Sandu and Alexandr Stoianolgo, who enjoys a powerful image transfer from the PSRM.
“The candidates started this campaign many months before. It’s a very short campaign and that’s a problem for those who didn’t achieve celebrity and aren’t known to even enter the margin of error in the final score. From my point of view, the result is more or less clear. It seems that it won’t be the runoff either. Maia Sandu has all the chances to win the first round of voting. But if it there is a runoff vote, it’s very likely that it will be Maia Sandu and the PSRM’s candidate. Even if he has a low notoriety, a rather modest degree of credibility and adhesion, the PSRM’s machinery places him second in the hierarchy of candidates. The transfer from Dodon is an important one. Like it or not, but Dodon remains the second public figure in the Republic of Moldova and would have had a much higher score than Stoianoglo,” Ion Sturza stated in the program “In Depth” on ProTV Chisinau channel.
Ion Sturza believes that the winning of the presidential election by a pro-Russian politician would mean blocking of the process of joining the European Union. A similar scenario is possible in the event of a failure in the referendum.
“I’m convinced that Maia Sandu will get a second term. The most important question is what the result of the referendum will be. It will be one of 60%-70%, as it was in all candidate countries, or it will be a modest one, which, divided to the number of voters, will be a marginal one, of 20%. As you can see, no one works their fingers to the bone for Maia Sandu to be defeated in the election. The fight is given for the referendum,” said the former Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova.
The campaign prior to the national constitutional referendum and the presidential election of October 20 starts today, September 20. The electoral legislation prohibits presidential candidates from using the administrative resource, including by launching or participating in the launch of infrastructure projects or purchases made from the national public budget, from using public assets and goods.
