CHISINAU, August 2 The opposition Party of Socialists in Moldova is ready to organize protests if the authorities remove former Prosecutor General Alexandru Stoianoglo from the presidential race, the leader of the political formation Igor Dodon said on Friday.
The presidential elections in Moldova are scheduled for October 20, and President Maia Sandu has already announced her intention to run for a second term. A referendum will be held on the same day, in which citizens will be able to express their opinion on the republic's accession to the European Union. Former Prosecutor General of the country Alexander Stoianoglo, supported by Igor Dodon's Socialist Party, has confirmed his participation in the presidential race. The Socialists have put forward an initiative to nominate Stoianoglo as a single opposition candidate. However, negotiations on this issue are dragging on.
«I want to warn the authorities: if the people's candidate Alexandru Stoianoglo is not registered or excluded from the election race, we will use our right to boycott the elections and call people to the streets,» Dodon said at a briefing.
According to him, Maia Sandu expects to win the presidential elections in the first round, but, in his opinion, she has no chance. «It is obvious that there will be a second round, this is already being said by the propagandists of the PAS (the ruling party «Action and Solidarity» — ed.), between Maia Sandu and the people's candidate Alexandru Stoianoglo, who is supported by the socialists and me personally,» Dodon explained.
According to a survey 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 the country's president. The survey was conducted from July 8 to 21, with 1,093 respondents. The maximum margin of error is 3%.
At present, 13 politicians, including Sandu, have announced their desire to run for president 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 (PSA). The protesters accuse the country's authorities of failing to cope with the crisis in the economy and energy sector, as well as of putting pressure on the opposition. As a result of the authorities' actions, the opposition party «Shor» was banned, and representatives of other political formations, including the Socialist Party, «Revival» and «Chance», regularly face searches and detention of their supporters.