The ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) won 50.2 per cent of the vote and 55 of 101 seats in the country’s parliamentary election on 28 September. The opposition Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP) came second with 24.2 per cent and 26 seats. Electoral turnout was 52.2 per cent, up from 48.4 per cent in the 2021 elections. As with other recent elections, the campaign was portrayed as a referendum between further European integration and a pro-Russian geopolitical orientation by many actors and observers, including PAS, Russia, and the European Union. Some analysts contend this frame benefits the incumbent government by crowding out domestic socioeconomic and political issues. Russia again intervened heavily but unsuccessfully in the electoral cycle, in part by funding anti-PAS political parties and through paying and organizing anti-government protesters. Observers said the election was efficiently organized and competitive, but in line with recent elections was marred by illicit funding, disinformation, foreign interference, and partisan decisions by the Central Election Commission to disqualify two opposition parties only two days before the poll.  

Sources: Carnegie Politika, Electoral Commission of the Republic of Moldova, British Broadcasting Corporation, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe 

Evghenia Gutsul, the leader of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for her role in funneling MLD 42.5 million (USD 2.5 million) from the exiled oligarch Ilan Shor to both finance the activities of his banned political party and to pay citizens to vote for it. Gutsul, who was also placed on a European Union sanctions list for her role in ‘destabilizing’ the region, allegedly at the behest of the Russian government, says she plans to appeal the conviction and that the charges are politically motivated. The judge overseeing the trial received pressure from unidentified people to rule in Gutsul’s favor, including receiving death threats if she did not comply, accompanied with photographs of corpses. Gutsul will, however, remain in office, as although a conviction is grounds for her removal, a separate legal proceeding is required. The sentence comes weeks before Moldova’s parliamentary election, scheduled on 28 September.

Sources: Ziarul de Gardă (1), Ziarul de Gardă (2), International IDEA (1), International IDEA (2)

Parliament adopted a law on 29 May expanding out-of-country postal voting to Moldovans residing in Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea as well as providing more administrative resources to oversee the postal voting process. International postal voting was first implemented for Moldovans residing in six countries for the 2024 presidential election. The law also requires voter registration to be completed 30 days prior to the election and ballots to be received by the electoral commission 3 days before the election date. Registration was previously allowed up to 20 days before and ballots could be received 2 days before. At least one quarter of Moldova’s population, or between 1.2 million and 2 million people, is estimated to live abroad. 

Sources: Ziarul de Gardă, Parliament of Moldova, Emerging Europe

Moldovan MPs Alexander Nesterovschi and Irina Lozovan were sentenced to 12 and six years’ imprisonment (respectively) in absentia in March for their roles in laundering money for the fugitive Russia-based oligarch Ilan Shor to finance pro-Russian political politicians in Moldova. The cases mark the first convictions of sitting politicians as part of the anti-corruption investigators’ investigation into Shor’s network in the country. Both MPs are believed to have fled the country with the assistance of Russian diplomats. Another suspected participant in the scheme is the Bashkan (‘head’) of the autonomous region of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutsul, who was detained on 28 March at Chisinau Airport while attempting to board a flight to Moscow. A Chisinau court placed Gutsul in preventive detention for an initial period of 20 days, marking the first time a sitting Bashkan has been arrested.  

 Sources: Reuters, The Moscow Times, Newsmaker, International IDEA