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Moldova’s presidential runoff will be tough, many voters undecided — expert

The expert noted that the winner of the runoff will have to consider the opinion of the opposite side

© EPA-EFE/DUMITRU DORU

MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Moldova’s presidential runoff will be quite tough, there are many voters still undecided, so it is too early to make prediction on the election’s outcomes, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) Director General Andrey Kortunov told TASS on Monday.

"I think that the fight in the runoff will be tough, and both sides believe that. It is too early to predict the results of the runoff, as the gap between the presidential candidates is not that big," Kortunov said.

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Second round of presidential elections in Moldova to take place on November 15

According to him, there is a group of undecided voters, and right now, both candidates will try to mobilize their base for the runoff. "And I think that so far, it is too early to say whether they will succeed," the expert stated.

According to Kortunov, the balance of power in the republic has remained practically unchanged. "There are fixed electoral preferences of certain population groups. So, it is obvious that no matter who wins in the end, they would still have to look for a compromise, work on it, find some common ground. Otherwise, the political situation in the country is likely to stay unstable," the analyst said.

He added that the winner of the runoff will have to consider the opinion of the opposite side. Excluding it from the political process would mean "recreating the instability that has been witnessed many times."

Leader of Moldova’s pro-European opposition Party of Action and Solidarity Maia Sandu leads in the first round of the presidential election with 36,16% of the vote, while the incumbent president Igor Dodon only secured 32,61% of the vote, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) announced Monday after counting 100% of ballots.

The CEC recognized the election as valid as the voter turnout surpassed the required threshold of 33.33%, reaching 42,76%.

The winner will be announced after the runoff due on November 15.

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