Moldova blocks opposition from elections

Moldova’s ‘Victory bloc’ is arguing that Chisinau’s decision was politically motivated, and has vowed to appeal.

Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) decided on Saturday that a Euroskeptic opposition party should be barred from participating in the upcoming parliamentary election.

Hundreds of Moldovans from the Victory political bloc had picketed outside of the CEC building earlier in the day to demand that the party be allowed to register for the vote.

Later on Saturday, the government body announced that it rejected the bloc’s registration, citing alleged ties to Russia and to exiled opposition figure Ilan Shor.

“The CEC decision is politically motivated. We will appeal it in court,” Moldovan MP and representative for the bloc, Vasile Bolea, said according to RIA.

Videos of the picket taken by Sputnik showed hundreds of protesters who could be heard shouting “we demand fair elections,” and “down with dictatorship,” as well as waving banners outside of the CEC building.

This is not the first time Chisinau has refused the opposition party the right to take part in elections.

Late last year, the CEC denied Victory the right to register its candidate for Moldova’s presidential election.

Incumbent pro-EU President Maia Sandu narrowly won the vote and secured a second presidential term, although Moscow accused Chisinau of disenfranchising the nearly 500,000 Moldovans living in Russia. Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe later stated that the election had not set “a level playing field” for the contestants.

Sandu has accelerated Moldova’s EU and NATO accession efforts since she was first elected in 2020. However, her decisions have increasingly seen pushback from Moldovans on the backdrop of worsening economic prospects and a crackdown on dissent.

The European Council on Tuesday blacklisted the Victory bloc, as well as two other organizations, accusing them of “undermining” democracy in Moldova. The body also imposed personal sanctions on seven opposition individuals over their links to Shor.