Igor Dodon, Moldova's pro-Russia Socialist Party leader, has claimed victory in the country's presidential election over pro-European candidate Maia Sandu.
The Central Election Commission said early on November 14 that with 98.5 percent of the ballots counted, Dodon was leading 54.06 percent to 45.94 percent for Sandu, the candidate from the Party for Action and Solidarity.
Officials said about 53.3 percent of registered voters cast ballots on November 13.
Reuters reports Dodon's win is in part a reflection of a loss of trust in pro-European leaders in Moldova, which was plunged into political and economic crisis after a corruption scandal came to light in late 2014.
“I am president for the whole country, for those who voted for me and those who voted against,” Dodon said in a short briefing to journalists.
Sandu called on elections officials to resign, claiming the elections had been poorly organized.
She, in particular, complained about the high number of people who voted in the breakaway region of TransDniester, a very pro-Russia region, where a reported 9,000 people cast ballots.
People who live in TransDniester, which has self-proclaimed itself an independent country, don't usually take part in Moldovan elections.
Reuters notes the president in Moldova is more than just a figurehead: he or she can return laws to parliament and dissolve the assembly in certain situations.
Meanwhile, speaking to a TASS correspondent Dodon said he was confident of his victory.
“I was confident of victory. During the campaign that lasted 40 days, together my agents we held more than 15,000 meetings with more than 400,000 voters. People got tired of the seven year rule of the coalition of pro-European parties, poverty, corruption and lawlessness. They want changes, to see Moldova a thriving, integral, strong and sovereign country, cooperating with both West and East, so as our children live in our state, not in a province of some other state. Together we will change the situation in the country for the better," Dodon said.
He stressed that his first foreign visit will be to Moscow “in order to initiate signing of a strategic partnership agreement with Russia, which will envisage economic, social and political cooperation, a common approach to settlement of the TransDniester conflict, guarantees for Moldovan labor migrants in Russia.”
