2023 Moldovan local elections

Local elections were held in Moldova on 5 November 2023, with a runoff round for mayors held two weeks after the first round on 19 November 2023. ^[1] The main electoral contenders were:

• The incumbent government, the pro-European, Atlanticist, centre-right, and liberal Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).
• Opposition from the left-wing and pro-Russian Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BECS), comprising the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), and Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM).

The elections were organized by the incumbent Recean Cabinet. Overall, the PAS won the most votes in the elections.

Last local election

Main article: 2019 Moldovan local elections

In 2019, the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) won 17 out of 32 administrative districts, as per the electoral results of the previous Moldovan local elections, which were held in 2019.

Following that 2019 election, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) controlled a single district, won as part of the ACUM political alliance with the Dignity and Truth Platform (PPDA), the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM), and the National Unity Party (PUN).

Background

In 2021, government began considering reform of administrative districts. ^[2] Former Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița (PAS) announced in 2023 that fundamental local government reform would not take place until the elections, but that "voluntary amalgamation" could be implemented, i.e. the voluntary union of several administrative-territorial units. ^[3]

In February 2023, there were allegations of a coup in Moldova. ^[4]

On 19 June 2023, the Șor Party was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court of Moldova. ^{[5] [6]} Ilan Shor was banned, as were other Șor Party politicians, from standing for election. In August 2023 a new party called “ȘANSĂ”, led by journalist Alexei Lungu, was established. ^[7] “ȘANSĂ” was de-registered as a political party two days before the local elections in November amid claims of accepting illegal funds from Russia. ^[8] This resulted in a blanket ban on all 8,605 candidates nominated by the party. ^[9] Intelligence chief Alexandru Musteață claimed that Russia spent about a billion Moldovan lei (roughly US$55.5 million), routed through Ilan Shor, to overthrow the democratic government and destabilize Moldova, with ȘANSĂ allegedly using around 10% of this sum in the prior two months to bribe voters and illegally finance the political party associated with Shor. ^[10]

In October, the Information and Security Service of Moldova blocked 22 Russian language websites for dissemination information from an aggressor nation (Russia), followed by the suspension of six TV stations linked to Ilan Shor and Vladimir Plahotniuc. ^[11]

Mayoral results

Electoral map depicting the results of the 2023 Moldovan local elections by each administrative unit of the country, i.e. raion.

After the first round of voting and the 273 runoff votes on 19 November: ^{[12] [13]}

• 898 mayoral positions were contested
• In Chișinău, incumbent mayor Ion Ceban was re-elected
• Bălți went to Alexandr Petkov

Party [14]		Seats	% of mayors
	PAS	291	32.5
	PSRM	144	16.1
	Independents	116	12.9
	PDCM	48	5.3
	Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova	34	3.8
	Revival Party	27	3.0
	DA Platform	20	2.2
	Respect Moldova	19	2.1
	Our Party	17	1.9

On 22 November 2023, the Central Election Commission ruled three settlements would hold new elections in May 2024. ^[15]

Chișinău Mayor

Main article: Mayor of Chișinău

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Ion Ceban (incumbent)	National Alternative Movement	132,803	50.62
	Lilian Carp	Party of Action and Solidarity	74,074	28.23
	Adrian Albu	Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova	11,876	4.53
	Victor Chironda	Dignity and Truth Platform	10,011	3.82
	Vasile Bolea	Revival Party	6,334	2.41
	Vasile Costiuc	Democracy at Home Party	5,518	2.10
	Diana Caraman	Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova	4,456	1.70
	Ruslan Codreanu	Ruslan Codreanu Electoral Bloc	3,685	1.40
	Others	Other parties and independents	13,596	5.18
Total			262,353	100.00
Source: Central Electoral Commission [16]

Chișinău City Council

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	National Alternative Movement	85,553	33.25	20
	Party of Action and Solidarity	84,615	32.88	20
	Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova	24,816	9.64	6
	Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova	11,465	4.46	2
	Revival Party	6,793	2.64	1
	Dignity and Truth Platform	6,583	2.56	1
	Our Party	4,429	1.72	1
	Democracy at Home Party	3,583	1.39	0
	Ruslan Codreanu Electoral Bloc	3,454	1.34	0
	Party of Development and Consolidation of Moldova	3,122	1.21	0
	Coalition for Unity and Well-being	2,415	0.94	0
	Change	1,961	0.76	0
	Home Building Europe Party "PACE"	1,865	0.72	0
	Respect Moldova	1,758	0.68	0
	For People, Nature and Animals	1,620	0.63	0
	Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova	1,539	0.60	0
	European Social Democratic Party	1,505	0.58	0
	Liberal Party	783	0.30	0
	Common Action Party – Civil Congress	693	0.27	0
	National Moldavian Party	623	0.24	0
	People's Will	617	0.24	0
	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe	580	0.23	0
	Movement of Professionals "Speranța-Надежда"	501	0.19	0
	Alternative and Salvation Force of Moldova	472	0.18	0
	Patriots of Moldova	441	0.17	0
	National Liberal Party	365	0.14	0
	Ecologist Green Party	334	0.13	0
	League of Cities and Communes	276	0.11	0
	NOI	218	0.08	0
	Independents	4,328	1.68	0
Total		257,307	100.00	51
Source: Central Electoral Commission [17]

External observers

The Central Election Commission of Moldova accredited 401 international observers for the election. ^[18] The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was an observer organization, with 264 observers from 36 countries. Their opinion on the election was that: "The elections were calm and efficiently managed with candidates mostly able to campaign freely, but the broad powers of the government commission for exceptional situations were used to restrict freedom of speech and association as well as the right to stand, while interference from abroad and widespread allegations of vote buying throughout the campaign were of concern". ^[9]

The 5 November local elections were peaceful and managed efficiently, reported OSCE, but noted that interference from abroad and restrictive measures imposed due to national security concerns had a negative impact on the process. ^[19] Observers noted credible, persistent, and widespread allegations of the use of illegal funds for vote buying, linked to the leader of the dissolved Șor Party, and the use of foreign private sponsorship to fund local infrastructure projects in some districts, to gain votes. ^[9]

Post-election events

An appeal to the Chișinău Court of Appeal after the local elections by the Chance party in December 2023 led to a reversal of the ban of 600 candidates removed from the November ballot. ^[20] This lifting of the ban was reversed on 4 October 2023 by the Exceptional Situations Committee, which stated that any former member of the Șor party who had been charged, indicted, or under suspicion of committing criminal acts would be banned from participating in the elections. ^[21] The bans on 21 candidates were amended on 4 October 2023 to a prohibition on running for three years. ^[22]

References

1. "The date of the local elections in 2023 was set". radiomoldova.md. 27 December 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
2. Botnaru, Vasile; Boțan, Igor (29 November 2021). "Igor Boțan: Reforma teritorial-administrativă este presantă, dar mereu amânată". Radio Europa Liberă (in Romanian). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
3. "Natalia Gavrilița: Ar fi bine ca amalgamarea voluntară să aibă loc până la alegeri". Radio Chișinău (in Romanian). Retrieved 24 April 2023.
4. Rankin, Jennifer (13 February 2023). "Moldova president accuses Russia of plotting to oust pro-EU government". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 28 March 2023.
5. "Partidul ȘOR, scos în afara legii de Curtea Constituțională de la Chișinău. Formațiunea oligarhului fugar ar fi pus la cale o lovitură de stat". Ziare.com (in Romanian). Retrieved 19 June 2023.
6. "Ultima oră! Partidul Șor, declarat neconstituțional de Înalta Curte". UNIMEDIA (in Romanian). 19 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
7. ""ȘANSA" lui Șor s-a mutat în sediul lui Plahotniuc. Un nou partid clonă al oligarhilor fugari". 8 August 2023.
8. "Moldova's 'Chance' Party Stumbles as Local Elections Approach; Customs Service Strengthens International Ties". 3 November 2023.
9. "Moldova's elections peaceful and efficient, but marred by sweeping restrictive measures amid national security concerns: international observers". 6 November 2023.
10. "Moldova spy chief: Russia paid fugitive tycoon $ 55.5 mn to overthrow government". 4 November 2023.
11. "Local elections in Moldova: new votes, old disinformation narratives". 17 November 2023.
12. "Moldova's pro-Western government hails elections despite mayoral losses in capital and key cities". Associated Press News . 6 November 2023.
13. "PAS WINS MAYORAL ELECTIONS IN 291 POPULATED AREAS, WHILE PARTY OF SOCIALISTS – IN 144". 20 November 2023.
14. "Alegeri locale din 2023" . Retrieved 23 November 2023.
15. "New local elections to be organized in three settlements from south Moldova". 22 November 2023.
16. "CEC - Rezultatele alegerilor". rezultate.cec.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 11 September 2024.
17. "CEC - Rezultatele alegerilor". rezultate.cec.md (in Romanian). Retrieved 11 September 2024.
18. "Russian OSCE observers not accredited by Moldova: Russia is outraged". 1 November 2023.
19. "INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION Republic of Moldova – Local Elections, 5 November 2023" (PDF). Retrieved 6 December 2023.
20. "A Moldovan court annuls a ban on an alleged pro-Russia party that removed it from local elections". 12 December 2023.
21. "Moldova Takes Further Steps To Ban Members Of Pro-Russian Party From Local Polls". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty . Retrieved 5 October 2023.
22. "INTERNATIONAL ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION Republic of Moldova – Local Elections, 5 November 2023" (PDF). Retrieved 6 December 2023.