Maia Sandu Wins Moldova's Presidential Election
- 4.11.2024, 9:10
(Updated) She won the support of more than 55 per cent of people in the second round.
The incumbent president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, has beaten her rival, the candidate of the Party of Socialists (PSRM) Alexandru Stoianoglo, in the second round of elections, the CEC data showed after processing 99.59% of ballots.
Sandu is in the lead with 55.26 per cent support. 44.74% of voters voted for her rival, CEC data showed.
The turnout was 53.75%, with 1.6 million people voting.
A record 300,000 people voted abroad, according to the Moldovan Foreign Ministry.
‘Moldova was able to show its will and strength through the voice of each of us. We proved that by uniting we can defeat those who wanted to humiliate us. (...) Moldova was subjected to an unprecedented attack in the history of the whole Europe: dirty money, illegal vote buying, interference in electoral processes by criminal groups, spreading hatred and fear in our society. But our people united and the citizens won,’ Sandu said in Moldovan.
Maia Sandu also addressed voters in Russian. ‘Dear Moldovans, I am grateful to each of you who came to the elections. I heard your voice: both those who supported me and those who voted for Mr Stoianoglo. I pledge to be a president for all of you. No one will lose in our choice of a decent future. We may hold different points of view, speak different languages, but we all want peace, mutual understanding and a decent life for our children. This is my main goal for Moldova in the coming years. We need to unite society,’ the president said in Russian.
In the first round of the October 20 elections, no winner could be identified: Sandu, who advocates a pro-European programme, led with 42% of the vote, while Stoianoglo received 26%. At the same time, the country held a referendum on constitutional amendments fixing Moldova's aspirations to join the European Union. The gap between supporters and opponents of the amendments was less than 1%: 50.35% (749.7 thousand people) voted in favour, while 49.65% (739.1 thousand) voted against them. On October 31, the Constitutional Court approved this result.