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The Action and Solidarity Party (PAS), President Maia Sandu's pro-European party, won an absolute majority in yesterday's parliamentary elections. With more than 50% of the vote and 55 seats out of 101, the PAS has confirmed its hold on power, despite a context of high political and economic tensions. The pro-Russian opposition, grouped together in the Patriotic Bloc, won only 24.2% of the vote and is already denouncing possible fraud, calling for demonstrations in Chisinau.

This victory can be explained in part by the massive support of the diaspora: more than 280,000 voters living abroad took part in the election, 78% of whom voted for the PAS. This is a historic record for Moldova, which is divided between the interior of the country, which is more sensitive to pro-Russian rhetoric, and its emigrant communities, which are largely in favor of European integration. National turnout reached 52%, higher than in the last legislative elections.

The election was marked by accusations of Russian interference. Chisinau accuses Moscow of having injected hundreds of millions of euros into disinformation campaigns and vote buying. The authorities had banned two parties suspected of illegal financing linked to Russia, triggering the ire of the opposition, which describes these measures as authoritarian excesses. At the same time, several cyberattacks and bomb threats targeted the country and its polling stations abroad, without disrupting the vote count.

The issue of Transnistria also reignited tensions. In this pro-Russian separatist region, around 12,000 voters were able to cast their ballots, compared to 28,000 in 2021, due to a reduction in the number of polling stations. Although half of those who voted chose the Patriotic Bloc, the PAS still won 30% of the vote, an unprecedented result in this pro-Russian stronghold.

For Maia Sandu, the victory paves the way for further reforms and closer ties with the European Union (Moldova has been a candidate for accession since 2022). But economic difficulties, exacerbated by rising energy costs since the reduction in Russian gas imports, remain a major challenge for her government. The opposition, led by former president Igor Dodon, is already promising to mobilize the streets to challenge the legitimacy of the election. Le Monde

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IN SHORT

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CONFLICTS