Pro-Russian candidate wins Moldovan presidency

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) – Pro-Russian Socialist leader Igor Dodon declared victory in the second round of presidential elections in Moldova late Sunday, with exit polls showing him ahead.

Dodon won 52.57 percent of the vote in the second round, thus making him the first president elected in Moldova by popular vote since 1996.

His rival, former pro-Western Education Minister Maia Sandu, won 47.43 percent of the vote.

Moldova's president, last chosen by popular vote in 1996, has the power to send laws back to parliament and dissolve the legislature in certain situations.

Since 2000, presidents were chosen by parliament, but in March the Constitutional Court reinstated direct voting.

Moldova, a former Soviet republic that is Europe's poorest country, signed an association agreement with the EU in summer 2014. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has pressured Moldova to postpone implementation of the free trade portion of the agreement.

Igor Dodon, 41, started his political carrier in the Communist Party, but left it for the Socialists in late 2011 after losing his bid to lead the party.

After Dodon took the party reins, the Socialists won the 2014 parliamentary elections with 20.51 percent of the vote.

Moldova has been wracked by corruption and unrest since 2014 when 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) vanished from three banks in suspected embezzlement. The loss – equivalent to 14 percent of Moldova’s GDP – put huge strain on the country’s finances.

Since then, the country has seen five prime ministers resign amid allegations of high-level corruption and street protests that some claim are engineered by Moscow, angered by the government’s pro-Europe stance.