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Moldovan Socialists Did Not Recognize Elections and Called Sandu Illegitimate
In the Moldovan elections, Sandu defeated her rival, the PSRM candidate Stoianoglo, by a margin of 10%. Her victory was secured by voting abroad. The Socialists refused to recognize the election results and called Sandu "the president of the diaspora."
The Socialist Party of Moldova (PSRM), whose presidential candidate is former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo, does not recognize the results of foreign polling stations and considers Maia Sandu an illegitimate president. This is stated in a statement by the PSRM:
"The latest presidential elections, especially in Transnistria and at polling stations abroad, can in no way be called a free and democratic expression of the will of the people. <...> Maia Sandu became the "President of the Diaspora." "The Socialist Party of the Republic of Moldova does not recognize the votes received at polling stations abroad," the statement reads.
The PSRM said it also faced problems including unjustified reductions in polling stations, blocking voters’ access to polling stations, “day of silence” campaigns, as well as hundreds of cases of deliberate electoral fraud and missing ballot boxes. The party believes that as a result of these violations, “hundreds of thousands of people were unable to exercise their right to vote.”
They noted that "even taking into account all the violations" Maia Sandu suffered a defeat within the country. "Alexandr Stoianoglo achieved a real victory in the presidential elections of Moldova. 51.19% of Moldovans voted for him. "People who work here, receive pensions, pay taxes and utilities, raise children and live with the country's problems voted for him," the PSRM emphasized.
Commenting on the results of the preliminary vote, Prime Minister Sandu said that Moldova had won the elections and expressed gratitude to everyone who took part in the electoral process. The President is confident that everyone’s voices have been heard, regardless of who they support, and promised to carry out the necessary reforms, including judicial reform.
Stoianoglo also thanked voters for proving that “Moldova is not a dot on the map, and that we are not passive observers, but responsible citizens who know our future.”
Voter turnout in the general election was 54.34%, with 1.7 million people casting their ballots. The Interior Ministry said it had recorded 255 irregularities the day before and reported "clear evidence" of organised movement of voters both abroad and within the country.
Maia Sandu (52) has been the President of Moldova since 2020; in 2016, she founded the Solidarity Action Party (Partidul Acşiune şi Solidaritate - PAS), which won the 2021 snap parliamentary elections and became the ruling party. The party has 62 seats in the republic’s 101-seat unicameral parliament. Sandu is also running for a second term in PAS. Under her leadership, the country applied for and received a candidacy for EU membership. Alexandru Stoianoglo, 57, originally from Gagauzia, ran twice for the post of Bashkan (head) of the autonomous region. From 2019 to 2023, he was appointed Prosecutor General of Moldova by decree of President Igor Dodon (PSRM), and was dismissed in 2021. Three criminal cases have been opened against him. In one of them, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) awarded him compensation, in another, a Moldovan court acquitted him, and a third is pending. Sandu fired Prosecutor General Stoianoglo in 2023. And although the Constitutional Court declared the law on which it was based unconstitutional, the decision was not overturned.