Local elections to determine political course of Moldova
Local elections in Moldova on November 5 will determine the political course of the country, with the big mystery of the campaign being how the vote will unfold in the capital, political analysts consulted by Radio Moldova say.
The major risk of the election, to which experts are drawing attention, is the flow of illegal money used by some candidates to bribe voters.
Local elections are seen by political forces as a springboard for the presidential and parliamentary elections that will take place in the next two years and will determine the political configuration of the government in Chisinau, political analysts say. According to political analyst Anatol Taranu, the big mystery of this electoral campaign is how the vote will unfold in the capital, and the large number of candidates speaks to the interests of different political forces to promote themselves.
"The big mystery is how the elections will unfold in Chisinau. In fact, Chisinau will be an indicator, which will give an understanding in which direction the balance is tilted in political terms in the Republic of Moldova," the expert said.
Bribing voters and, through this, influencing the results of the elections is the biggest risk of this electoral campaign, according to expert Victor Ciobanu.
"In this electoral campaign, the major risk is the bribing of voters, through clones, including independent candidates, but who are somehow affiliated with the defunct party, declared unconstitutional. The main problem is that the flows of illegal money have not been stopped. The second problem would be that the leaders of this party are not arrested, so they cannot run, but they can still continue their political activity and will stand behind the candidates who are advanced in different localities," Victor Ciobanu said.
At the general local election on November 5, 898 mayors and 11,058 local councillors of all levels are to be elected. The electoral campaign began on October 6 and will end in the evening of November 3.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
