
Called to the polls on Sunday October 20, 2 million Moldovans will choose between an outgoing president whose political project is to link the country to the European Union (EU) and ten candidates, most of whom are oriented to varying degrees towards the former Russian overlord. In order to attract voters to the polling stations, in particular the 200,000 votes from the diaspora, Maia Sandu, 52, widely favored, coupled with the presidential vote a referendum asking the question of whether or not the country would join the EU.
“I will vote for yes (in the referendum)but I have not yet decided which candidate I will vote for in the presidential election »explains Liolia Rusu, 59, a childcare worker in Anenii Noi, a small, mainly wine-producing town southeast of the capital, Chisinau. She goes with a colleague to a meeting of the main opposition candidate, Alexandr Stoianoglo, organized on Tuesday October 15 at the end of the afternoon. “We don’t really know this candidate, we try to listen to them all. Voting is important, I don’t miss any elections. It’s our future that’s being decided.”continues Natalia Nemerenco, 55 years old. Both dream of “live like in Europe, where we live better than here” !
An absent youth
The two women form one of the groups converging towards the Maison de la culture. Before reaching the building, the crowd walks past a massive statue of Lenin, now rare in Moldova, with a vague gaze and dangling arms. Inside, all the seats are occupied, hundreds of white heads, while the youth is conspicuous by their absence. A campaign newspaper is distributed to the public, entirely in Russian, even though the country’s official language is Romanian.
Alexandr Stoianoglo, 57, candidate of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova, takes the microphone after waiting a little. Some applause encourages him. Credited with 9% of voting intentions, the man is strapped into an elegant suit, standing out from the public, and dressed very modestly. His face has a severe appearance, a very long nose, a little flattened in the middle like that of a boxer, ending in a wide, slightly twisted mouth which gives him an ironic pout. He begins by introducing himself in Romanian but, after a few minutes, this former prosecutor explains in Russian that he will speak in both languages. Then he completely stops speaking in Romanian, which is not his mother tongue.
“It is business that must drive the country’s economy and support social assistance. When I was appointed prosecutor, we arrested 1,000 businessmen a year. Not because they were committing crimes, but to extort money from them.”affirms the candidate, who quickly moves on to the burning theme of security, marking his difference with the outgoing president. “We will develop the status of neutrality (enshrined in the Moldovan Constitution of 1994). So we will never be drawn into a war. No bases, no military exercises here! » Murmurs of approval in the room.
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