CHISINAU, July 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Polling stations in Moldova opened Sunday morning with voters eager to choose the new parliament after the previous one was dissolved by new President Maia Sandu.
Sandu, who wants to bring Moldova into the European Union, in November defeated Kremlin-backed incumbent Igor Dodon on a pledge to fight corruption in one of Europe’s poorest countries.
Wedged between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova has long been divided over closer ties with Brussels or maintaining Soviet-era relations with Moscow.
With lawmakers loyal to Dodon blocking Sandu’s promises of reform, the former World Bank economist dissolved parliament in April and scheduled the snap vote.
“We have a chance to get rid of thieves and choose a holistic and good government,” Sandu said in a video address Thursday, speaking in Moldova’s main language Romanian.
In another speech in Russian — the ex-Soviet country’s second language — she said: “The time for change is coming in Moldova.”
The slogans resonate with many Moldovans, who in recent years have seen their country rocked by political crises, including a $1 billion bank fraud scheme equivalent to nearly 15 percent of the country’s GDP.
Sandu’s centre-right Action and Solidarity (PAS) party is leading going into the vote.
The latest polls show PAS with 35-37 percent of the vote against 21-27 percent for the party’s rivals from the coalition of socialists and communists led by Dodon and former President Vladimir Voronin.
Those figures only account for voters living in the country of 2.6 million people.
Analysts say the diaspora, which is more than a third of Moldova’s eligible voters and already threw its support behind Sandu during the presidential polls, could hold the key to the outcome.
According to estimates, the diaspora could bring Sandu’s party another 10-15 percentage points.
Twenty parties and two electoral blocs are running in Sunday’s elections.
They must cross the threshold set at five percent and seven percent of the votes respectively to obtain seats in the unicameral assembly.
The 101 lawmakers will be elected for four-year terms.
Polls will open at 7 am and close at 9 pm. — NNN-AGENCIES
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