No more than 12 candidates to stand in Moldovan presidential election
CHISINAU. Sept 23 (Interfax) - No more than 12 candidates will stand in the Moldovan presidential election, six candidates have been registered to date, and the Central Elections Commission (CEC) is processing documents of another six applicants, the CEC press service told Interfax.
Incumbent Moldovan President, Party of Action and Solidarity nominee Maia Sandu, Party of Socialists nominee Alexandr Stoianoglo, Our Party nominee Renato Usatii, Future of Moldova party nominee Vasile Tarlev, Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova nominee Ion Chicu, and independent candidate Irina Vlah have been registered for the October 20 presidential election.
The CEC is processing applications from independent candidates Victoria Furtuna and Andrei Nastase, Together electoral bloc nominee Octavian Ticu, Igor Munteanu from the Coalition for Unity and Welfare, and independent candidates Tudor Ulianovschi and Natalia Morari.
Twelve out of 13 aspirants have submitted their signature lists. Alexandru Arseni, member of the First Moldovan Parliament who planned to stand in the election as an independent candidate, was the only one who failed to gather enough signatures.
All 12 aspirants are likely to be registered, as the CEC has no serious reasons to deny registration to those who have submitted the required number of signatures.
The CEC press service also said that 2,221 polling stations would open on October 20 for the presidential election and the constitutional referendum.
Out of 2,221 polling stations, 1,957 will open inside Moldova, most of them (306) in Chisinau and suburbs.
There will be a record number of polling stations abroad (234), most of them in Italy (60), Germany (26) and France (20). There will be five polling stations in Russia, 12 less than in the elections of 2020 and 2021.
The Moldovan presidential election will take place on October 20, simultaneously with the constitutional referendum on Moldova's entry into the European Union. Citizens will be asked, "Do you agree with constitutional amendments aimed at the Republic of Moldova's entry into the European Union?" If the referendum succeeds, a number of constitutional amendments, the text of which has been approved by the Constitutional Court and will be published in ballots, will be made.
Presidential candidates can also campaign for the referendum, but only if the political parties they represent have registered with the CEC as referendum participants.
Seventeen parties have applied for joining the referendum campaign, and ten of them have been registered. Of all parties, 14 have been registered to campaign for the constitutional amendments, while three will be campaigning against them. In addition, the Party of Socialists of Igor Dodon and Chicu's Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova nominee are opposed to the referendum and call for boycotting it, i.e. not taking a referendum ballot. Current laws do not envisage a boycott, which means they have no right to such campaigning.
