Moldova - September 2025
Ruling PAS retains parliamentary majority in election
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
