July 8 (SeeNews) - Moldova will hold on Sunday early general elections, in which the frontrunners are the pro-Russian Socialist Party (PSRM) led by former president Igor Dodon, the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) led by Igor Grosu and backed by president Maia Sandu, and the centre-right Dignity and Truth Platform (PPPDA) of Andrei Nastase.
A total of 1,790 candidates representing 20 political parties and two electoral blocs, and one independent candidate, will compete to enter the 101-seat unicameral parliament in Moldova's eleventh general elections since 1990.
Apart from the three main contenders, the race includes the candidates of Sor Party led by businessman Ilan Sor and the Moldovan faction of Romanian right-wing nationalist party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which promotes a union between Romania and Moldova.
In order to enter parliament, parties or organisations need at least 5% of the votes, electoral blocs of two or more parties needs 7%, while for independent candidates the threshold is set at 2%.
Moldova has been run by a caretaker government led by foreign minister Aureliu Ciocoi since December, when former prime minister Ion Chicu resigned in a move aimed to prompt early parliamentary elections. President Sandu dissolved parliament and called for early elections at the end of April, after the parliamentary majority led by PSRM refused twice to appoint the prime ministers that she had proposed.
The largest political force in Moldova's parliament elected in 2019 is PSRM with 37 MPs. PAS and PPPDA, which form the electoral bloc ACUM, have 15 and 11 seats, respectively. The Democrat Party of Moldova holds 10 seats, Sor Party has nine seats, Pro-Moldova has seven seats, while the remaining 11 mandates are held by independent MPs and one seat is vacant.
The July 11 vote will be held under a new mixed system introduced in 2017 where 50 MPs will be elected on party lists and the remaining 51 will be elected in individual constituencies.
The country is divided into 48 election districts, plus three abroad. The members of parliament are elected for a four-year term.
A total of 3,282,288 Moldovan citizens are eligible to vote.
At the end of 2019, Moldova had a population of 2.6 million, according to data from the country's statistical office, BNS.
Polling stations will open at 0600 CET and close at 2000 CET.
Sources:
- Central Electoral Bureau, CEC
- BNS statistical office
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