Moscow-friendly Socialist Igor Dodon on Sunday garnered nearly 49% of the vote in Moldova`s first direct presidential election in decades, according to official preliminary results, Deutsche Welle reported.
Voter turnout was 48.92%, reported the electoral commission after polling booths closed at 21:00 (19:00 UTC), DW wrote.
”This day is important for Moldova. It will be a new beginning. I voted against those who have been in power for seven years, against the oligarchs and the looting of the banking system,” Dodon said prior to Sunday`s results.
His main rival is former Education Minister Maia Sandu, an ex-World Bank economist. Sandu picked up more than 38% of the vote, pitting her against Dodon in the runoff.
Moldova`s nine presidential candidates presented opposing visions for the country`s future – calling either for deeper ties with Moscow or the European Union.
Dodon, a 41-year-old pro-Moscow figure who heads the Socialists` Party, was favored to win Sunday`s polls. His campaign tapped into widespread dissatisfaction with the pro-European government, which has been in office since 2009.
Moldova last directly elected a president in 1996, after which members of parliament chose the head of state from 2000 onwards due to a constitutional amendment.
A constitutional court decision earlier this year re-established the popular vote. The central election commission in Moldova said the poll would be monitored by more than 3,200 local observers and 562 international ones.
A string of high-profile corruption scandals preceded Sunday`s vote. The unexplained disappearance of $1 billion (EUR 915 million) – about an eighth of the country`s GDP – from local banks over the past few years has weakened people`s trust in the country`s ruling coalition.
Moldova, which has a population of just 3.5 million, is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with 41% of people living on less than $5 a day, according to World Bank figures.
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