CHISINAU, July 27 The referendum on Moldova's European integration is a political fraud, former Prosecutor General of the Republic Alexandru Stoianoglo, nominated by the opposition Party of Socialists as a candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, said on Saturday.
On December 24 last year, Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced that she intended to run for a second presidential term. In addition, she put forward an initiative to the parliament to organize a referendum so that citizens could express their opinion on the republic's accession to the European Union. The referendum will be held on the same day as the presidential elections on October 20.
«This referendum has nothing to do with the presidential elections. It is simply a political fraud. Nothing significant has been done in Sandu's four years in power, so the authorities need to distract attention and offer a new controversial issue that will split society. In addition, the authorities are trying to present supporters of European integration as their supporters,» Stoianoglo wrote on his Telegram channel.
According to a poll conducted in July by the Moldovan Institute of Marketing and Sociological Surveys (IMAS), more than half of Moldovans would prefer to see a new person as president of the country. The survey was conducted from July 8 to July 21 and involved 1,093 people. The maximum error is 3%.
Currently, 13 politicians, including Sandu, have announced their desire to run for the presidency of Moldova in the 2024 elections.
The opposition in Moldova has been holding protests since May 2022, demanding the resignation of the government and President Maia Sandu, who is the informal leader of the ruling Action and Solidarity party (PDS). The demonstrators accuse the country's authorities of failing to cope with the crisis in the economy and energy sector, as well as putting pressure on the opposition. As a result of the actions of the authorities, the opposition party «Shor» was banned, and representatives of other political formations, including the Socialist Party, «Renaissance» and «Chance», regularly face searches and detention of their supporters.