Sandu Named the Main Risks of the Presidential Election

Maia Sandu, chairman of the Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), identified the main risks associated with the upcoming presidential election. She noted on Thursday, speaking in Bucharest at a forum on electoral priorities in 2020, that last year Moldova hosted “parliamentary elections that were neither free nor fair, and local elections that were much freer,” infotag.md reports. “In 2020, presidential elections will be held, which also involve a number of risks. Firstly, regarding party financing - there are political actors in Moldova who do not comply with the law, and carry out funding from dubious sources, and there are no sufficiently strong institutions that can regulate the process. Secondly, the problem of access to media - in Moldova, most of the market is controlled by politicians. Previously, it was Plahotniuc, now - Igor Dodon. Therefore, there is an inequality to which we can add the phenomenon of false news,” the politician told. According to her, “another problem is voting in Transdniestria.” “We, as politicians, cannot campaign on the left bank, but Moldovan citizens from there take part in the elections. For example, a large number of such voters took part in the February parliamentary elections, much more than in previous election processes. I talked to some of them, and they replied that they were not at all interested in the politics of Moldova - none of them recognized me. And in conditions when the pro-Russian force is in power, the risk of mobilizing this segment, most of which will run for elections for money, is extremely high,” Sandu said. She noted that “also diaspora voting is of concern.” “Despite the fact that we managed to improve electoral legislation and get rid of the mixed system, the decision to open polling stations is made by the government. It is very important that as many polling stations as possible be opened, because, for example, almost 80% of the diaspora votes in the 2016 presidential election were given in favor of democracy and European integration,” said Sandu.