“WEAKENS PRO-EUROPEAN IMAGE”
The referendum result – even if it still reverses and the “yes” vote wins narrowly – “weakens the pro-European image of the population and the leadership of Maia Sandu”, Florent Parmentier, a political scientist at Paris-based Sciences Po, told AFP.
Describing the result as a “surprise”, he said it would not impact the accession negotiations with the EU, which began this June, though a clear “yes” would have been “a clear positive signal to Brussels”.
Parmentier added the results “did not bode well for the second round” for Sandu, noting many of those who supported the nine other candidates on Sunday were more likely to vote for Stoiagnolu in the second round.
Sandu, 52, a former World Bank economist and Moldova’s first woman president, had been the clear favourite in the race, with surveys also predicting a “yes” victory in the referendum.
Sandu’s critics say she has not done enough to fight inflation in one of Europe’s poorest countries or to reform the judiciary.
In his campaign, Stoianoglo – who was fired as prosecutor by Sandu – called for the “restoration of justice” and vowed to wage a “balanced foreign policy”.
The 57-year-old abstained from voting in the referendum.
In Chisinau, voter Ghenadie, who declined to give his last name, said he was worried by what he saw as the country’s “Western” drift and thought the government was “making the situation worse” economically.
Another voter, Olga Cernega, a 60-year-old economist, said she had come to vote “for prosperity, peace and wellbeing in our country”.
