Andrei Năstase, ACUM bloc mayoral hopeful, counts on politicizing the vote in the second round of elections. If he and the Socialist candidate, Ion Ceban, start to talk about kW, cables and thickness of pipes, Andrei Năstase has no chance, said Andrei Popov, Institute for Strategic Initiatives chairman. According to him, Ion Ceban must mobilize his socialist base and must also attract voters from the center of the political spectrum.
Andrei Popov said that the ACUM bloc candidate needs to mobilize the unionists, which account for 17% of the electorate. "However, he has to climb from 31%, accumulated in the first round, to 51%,which means that he has to gain 20%. Ceban only needs 10% to win. Unlike Năstase, who has decent reserves, Ceban has little potential to attract voters", explained Andrei Popov. In his opinion, the only untapped voter pool by Ion Ceban is, while keeping the disciplined socialist base, the political center voter pool.
Andrei Popov said that the ACUM bloc candidate is in a difficult situation because he has to choose his allies for a CMC majority. All choices come with a price. If he makes a coalition with the Socialists, he will not have the support of the unionist electorate, while making an alliance with representatives of the PDM, the Șor Party or other political entities might cost him his own electorate.
After surveying the opinions of the residents of Chișinău, Romanian political analyst Armand Goșu said that the residents want their future mayor to be capable of raising funds for the development of the city. The analyst said that the city is in bad shape and that voters no longer take as much into account the political affiliation, but are mostly interested in the abilities of the candidates.
According to Armand Goșu, President Igor Dodon wants Ion Ceban to win the capital's mayoralty due to next year's presidential elections. "What is Dodon's goal? He wants to be reelected. Chișinău represents a third of the total Moldovan voter pool. The entity that controls Chișinău has a better chance of setting stronger political trends", said Armand Goșu.
Andrei Năstase accumulated 31.08% of the vote in the first round of elections, while Ion Ceban got 40.19%. The second round for the capital's mayoralty will take place on November 3, 2019.
