Moldova chooses parliament on Sunday

In Moldova, on Sunday, the parliamentary elections are held. At 7 o’clock in local time (8:00 Moscow time), all 1977 polling stations opened, 33 of which - with diplomatic departments abroad and 10 - on the left bank of the Dniester for the Moldovan citizens of an unrecognized Transnistria, whose authorities were not allowed to organize voting on their territory, reporters in the CEC of the Republic told.

It depends on the results of the elections who will rule the country in the next four years. After the parliamentary form of government introduced in 2001, the deputies here elect the leadership of the parliament and the president, and also approve the government. The main intrigue of the elections is whether the Party of Communists of Moldova will be able to hold power, which has been governing the country for eight years.

The leader of the Communists and President Vladimir Voronin, for the Constitution, can no longer occupy the post of head of state, but on the eve of the elections, he expressed confidence in the victory of the ruling party and said that he did not intend to leave big politics.

For 101 places in the Parliament of Moldova, 1 thousand 183 applicants from 12 parties and five independent candidates are fighting. The elections are held in the Unified Electoral District and are considered to be held if they take part in them 50 percent plus one vote from 2,598,875 voters. In order to go to parliament, parties need to gain at least six, and independent candidates - at least three percent of the votes from those who participated in the vote.

According to forecasts, the turnout will be from 60 to 70 percent of voters. In this case, to pass into the parliament, the parties will need to gain at least 100 thousand votes. It is possible to overcome the passing barrier, as shown by surveys and experience of past elections, only three or four parties - the vote of the losers, according to the electoral law, will go to the winners. According to polls, the favorite of the current election race is the Party of Communists, the greatest chances to go to parliament have a liberal-democratic, liberal party and our Moldova Alliance.

Voting will end at 21:00 (22:00 Moscow time). Two hours after that, thanks to the electronic vote counted by the electronic voting system, the first preliminary election results will be known, the head of the CEC Yevgeny Stirbu said. As for the official results, they will become a few days later.