Protest vote cast Chisinau in the arms of the Communists
A scandalous election in Moldova after Chisinau Election Council has committed a blunder by announcing the victory of the Communist candidate for mayor of the capital in the first round without even half the voting process.
The difference in favor of the communist candidate, between the trouble results announced by the Council and the exit-poll is over 10%. Spirits were hot after the central election authority chairman has revealed the mistake of his subordinates.
Survey results calculated by the Moldovan company CBS-AXA after exit at the polls released first-round victory in the race for mayor of Chisinau, the liberal Dorin Chirtoaca. According to survey results announced after the voting polls were closed, Chirtoaca won the election with 53.1 percent of the vote against his main rival, the Communist Dodon who garnered only 40.9 percent.
This morning, however, the results announced by Chisinau District Election Council showed the opposite. According to them, "after the processing of 99% of the vote, the communist Dodon obtained 52% of the vote and 43% liberal Chirtoaca.
Central Electoral Commission chairman, Iurie Ciocan, told the press that someone was quick to declare Dodon as winner. He said he could not understand how Council members were able to process 99% of Chisinau Electoral votes, having no data on how was voted in the suburbs - which means a quarter of all voters. Immediately after Iurie Ciocan's declaration, Chisinau Electoral Council members took a breather, arguing that they had worked all night.
This morning, when the Central Electoral Commission President made the surprising announcement, Chisinau Electoral Council had processed only 43 percent of votes and not 99% as announced. Based on that rate (43% of votes processed), the communist Dodon was credited with 52% and 44% the liberal Chirtoaca. Iurie Ciocan urged politicians and journalists to patience and said that "Dodon's victory is not cast in stone yet:
Iurie Ciocan: "I encourage you to have patience. Differences between Chisinau Electoral Council and the Central Electoral Commission are not and cannot be. We are one team and a single structure. It's just the fact that we operate with data that are inside the information system of the Central Election Commission and our colleagues in the constituencies have accounted these data manually.
Parallel vote counting by "Promo-LEX” observers show that a second round of local elections will be held in Chisinau . According to the Association, the candidate for mayor, Igor Dodon acquired 48.35% of the votes and the liberal Chirtoaca - 46.76%.
If the situation of Chisinau mayor remains uncertain in the future, then at the local council elections level Communists won both in Chisinau and in many other places in the country. Political analyst Vasile Croitoru argues that communists' success is due to bickering between the components of the current governing alliance. "It was a protest vote and a signal from citizens who see the Alliance's leaders are concerned about the rivalry, not people problems," said Croitoru.
According to political analysts, the Communist victory in Sunday's local elections, especially a possible Communist victory of the Chisinau mayoral candidate would radically change the political game in Moldova. In their view, the communists will still refuse to vote for president and so they will try to provoke early parliamentary elections because they feel "the wave" and the election results from yesterday increased desire for revenge.
It should be noted that until now the Communists have never won elections in Chisinau - even during the eight years (2001-2009) they ruled in Moldova.
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