CHISINAU, September 12. /TASS/. The Moldovan Central Election Commission registered incumbent President Maia Sandu as a candidate for the October 20 presidential election following a verification of voters' signatures in her support.
Commission member Vadim Filipov read out a proposal to register Sandu, who was nominated by the Party of Action and Solidarity, at a commission meeting, according to a webcast on the agency’s account on Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as an extremist organization in Russia). Commission Chairwoman Angela Karaman later said the proposal was approved in a unanimous vote.
Sandu is the second presidential candidate to be registered after former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo. A total of 13 groups of Moldovan activists submitted applications for nomination of their presidential candidates and started collecting signatures. They need signatures of 15,000 to 25,000 citizens from at least half of the country's settlements.
On election day, Moldova will also hold a referendum to join the EU. Observers said preparations for the referendum allowed the Party of Action and Solidarity and the government to start Sandu’s election campaign earlier. Ahead of the election, the government shut down the largest TV channels that provided a platform for the opposition. The election commission earlier denied registration to lawmaker Vasyl Bola, who was supported by the opposition bloc Victory.