Marius Ghincea

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Members of a local electoral commission count ballots in the July 11 legislative elections at a polling station in Chisinau, Moldova. (Sergei Gapon/AFP/Getty Images)

Europa, ,

Moldova held snap legislative elections July 11. After a months-long wrangle between Maia Sandu, the pro-Western president elected in November, and the pro-Russian majority in the legislature, new elections were called when the Parliament failed to name a new prime minister.

Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won this election in a landslide, with 52.8 percent of the vote. The second-place party, the pro-Russian Socialists, took only 27 percent. During the campaign, parties focused on two issues: extensive domestic corruption and whether Moldova should more closely align with Russia or the West.

For voters, corruption ultimately proved the more salient political issue, producing a substantial shift in electoral preferences.…  Seguir leyendo »

Former Moldovan prime minister Maia Sandu arrives to vote in the runoff presidential election in Chisinau on Nov. 15. Sandu defeated President Igor Dodon in an election that many Moldovans considered a referendum on two divergent visions for the future of this small Eastern European nation. (Roveliu Buga/AP)

Europa

The Republic of Moldova, a tiny nation sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, held its second-round presidential elections on Nov. 15. The voters ousted the incumbent pro-Russian president, Igor Dodon, electing Maia Sandu, the pro-Western, Harvard-educated former prime minister.

Sandu will become the first female president of this former Soviet republic, population 3.5 million. What shaped her victory, and what does it mean? Here’s what you need to know.

Moldova has deep political divisions

Disagreements about three big issues have shaped Moldova’s politics in recent years — and corruption topped the list. Sandu organized an anti-corruption movement that opposed the oligarchic rule of Vladimir Plahotniuc, a businessman who completely captured the state until he was ousted in 2019 — following the joint political intervention by the United States, the European Union and Russia.…  Seguir leyendo »