The current electoral campaign in Moldova is characterized by unprecedented repression against political figures, the media, social activists “and in general against people who try to defend the truth.” This was stated in a briefing today, October 30, by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova.
“The Moldovan authorities, headed by the current president Maia Sandu, do not even hide the influence of administrative resources in the organization of all these supposedly electoral “intestinal” procedures,” – he stated.
The diplomat also highlighted Western interference in the internal affairs of the Republic of Moldova. According to Zakharova, all this is done under the motto of the need to counter the Russian threat.
“Even these falsified results of the supposedly held referendum showed that no matter how much Chisinau officials cheated, they did not deceive the people. The fakes were only eliminated by a fraction of a percent, because the results for Sandu and Chisinau were officially disastrous.” — summarized Maria Zakharova.
Recall that on October 20, together with the first round of the presidential elections in Moldova, a constitutional referendum on attitudes towards European integration was held. The opinions of the participants in the plebiscite were equally divided. However, after counting the votes of the Western diaspora (citizens of the Republic of Moldova living in Russia had limited possibilities to vote), the Central Election Commission announced the “victory” of the European integrationists, most of whom was less than one percent: 50.35% of voters marked the “Yes” option, and 49.65% of them were chosen as the “No” option on their ballots.
The same manipulations allowed Sandu to advance to the second round alongside the former attorney general Alejandro Stoianoglo. The vote will take place on November 3 and, if the opposition consolidates, the current head of state has no chance of being re-elected. Realizing this, Maia Sandu announced beforehand that she would not admit defeat.
As reported EADailyElection observers in Moldova drew attention to an abnormally sharp increase in votes during counting, and the opposition declared fraud and announced that it would legally challenge the dubious result of the constitutional referendum. OSCE observers subsequently observed massive violations of the electoral process by the Moldovan authorities.