Post by Bozur on Mar 6, 2005 16:54:47 GMT -5
World - AP
Pro-Western Communists Favored in Moldova
Sun Mar 6,11:53 AM ET World - AP
By CORNELIU RUSNAC, Associated Press Writer
CHISINAU, Moldova - Moldova held elections for a new parliament Sunday, a vote expected to serve the Kremlin with another example of waning Russian influence in former Soviet republics.
AP Photo / Sun Mar 6, 5:36 AM ET / A Moldovan security officer casts his vote in Chisinau Moldova Sunday March 6 2005. Pro-Western Communists are favored to remain in power as Moldovans voted in parliamentary elections Sunday, but the party faced a challenge from centrists who prefer closer ties with Moscow. Some 2.3 million Moldovans are eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and were due to close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). More than half the electorate needs to vote for the elections to be valid.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Opinion polls predicted pro-Western Communists would retain their grip on power despite a challenge from centrists who favor closer ties with Moscow.
Fifteen parties and alliances are competing for 101 seats in parliament, which is charged with choosing a president. The election follows the recent victories of pro-Western leaders in Georgia and Ukraine.
President Vladimir Voronin has been criticized for being heavy-handed with the opposition and tightly controlling the state media. But his Communist party has also led the country, Europe's poorest, through four years of economic growth.
"I voted for the Communists because they look after the old people and they doubled my pension," Ana Vasentciuc, 70, said as she voted early Sunday. Her monthly check is now about $35.
Iurie Rosca, leader of the center-right Popular Christian Democratic Party, wore an orange jacket as a symbol of his sympathies with the so-called Orange Revolution that swept reformists to power in neighboring Ukraine last year.
Rosca's party has been the Communists' main opponent in recent years.
Moldova's Communists, formerly allied with Russia, have switched loyalties in recent years and now favor closer ties to the European Union. Its deteriorating relations with the Kremlin have bolstered the Democratic Moldova Bloc, a pro-Moscow alliance headed by Serafim Urechean, the mayor of Chisinau.
"Today we are deciding the path of development that Moldova will take for the future," Urechean said.
Voronin fell out with Moscow over the future of the Russian-speaking separatist region of Trans-Dniester. He rejected a Russian-backed proposal in 2003 to federalize Moldova by giving Trans-Dniester statehood status.
Nine special stations were opened near the border with Trans-Dniester so the separatist region's 700,000 residents can vote. Trans-Dniester authorities have refused to allow any polling stations on their territory. Russia put 1,800 of its peacekeepers on alert in the separatist region Saturday.
"Voronin has raised pensions and salaries ... he has proved that he's interested in helping ordinary people," said 68-year-old Andrei Taru.
"It doesn't bother me that he was friends with Russia in the beginning and now he's friends with the Europeans and Americans," he said.
Some 2.3 million people are eligible to vote. The turnout must be greater than half the electorate for the election to be valid.
By 3:45 p.m., some 49.5 percent of voters had cast ballots, showing that the elections likely would be valid.
More than 700 foreign observers, including 150 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, were monitoring the vote.
Pro-Western Communists Favored in Moldova
Sun Mar 6,11:53 AM ET World - AP
By CORNELIU RUSNAC, Associated Press Writer
CHISINAU, Moldova - Moldova held elections for a new parliament Sunday, a vote expected to serve the Kremlin with another example of waning Russian influence in former Soviet republics.
AP Photo / Sun Mar 6, 5:36 AM ET / A Moldovan security officer casts his vote in Chisinau Moldova Sunday March 6 2005. Pro-Western Communists are favored to remain in power as Moldovans voted in parliamentary elections Sunday, but the party faced a challenge from centrists who prefer closer ties with Moscow. Some 2.3 million Moldovans are eligible to vote in the parliamentary elections. Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and were due to close at 9 p.m. (1900 GMT). More than half the electorate needs to vote for the elections to be valid.(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Opinion polls predicted pro-Western Communists would retain their grip on power despite a challenge from centrists who favor closer ties with Moscow.
Fifteen parties and alliances are competing for 101 seats in parliament, which is charged with choosing a president. The election follows the recent victories of pro-Western leaders in Georgia and Ukraine.
President Vladimir Voronin has been criticized for being heavy-handed with the opposition and tightly controlling the state media. But his Communist party has also led the country, Europe's poorest, through four years of economic growth.
"I voted for the Communists because they look after the old people and they doubled my pension," Ana Vasentciuc, 70, said as she voted early Sunday. Her monthly check is now about $35.
Iurie Rosca, leader of the center-right Popular Christian Democratic Party, wore an orange jacket as a symbol of his sympathies with the so-called Orange Revolution that swept reformists to power in neighboring Ukraine last year.
Rosca's party has been the Communists' main opponent in recent years.
Moldova's Communists, formerly allied with Russia, have switched loyalties in recent years and now favor closer ties to the European Union. Its deteriorating relations with the Kremlin have bolstered the Democratic Moldova Bloc, a pro-Moscow alliance headed by Serafim Urechean, the mayor of Chisinau.
"Today we are deciding the path of development that Moldova will take for the future," Urechean said.
Voronin fell out with Moscow over the future of the Russian-speaking separatist region of Trans-Dniester. He rejected a Russian-backed proposal in 2003 to federalize Moldova by giving Trans-Dniester statehood status.
Nine special stations were opened near the border with Trans-Dniester so the separatist region's 700,000 residents can vote. Trans-Dniester authorities have refused to allow any polling stations on their territory. Russia put 1,800 of its peacekeepers on alert in the separatist region Saturday.
"Voronin has raised pensions and salaries ... he has proved that he's interested in helping ordinary people," said 68-year-old Andrei Taru.
"It doesn't bother me that he was friends with Russia in the beginning and now he's friends with the Europeans and Americans," he said.
Some 2.3 million people are eligible to vote. The turnout must be greater than half the electorate for the election to be valid.
By 3:45 p.m., some 49.5 percent of voters had cast ballots, showing that the elections likely would be valid.
More than 700 foreign observers, including 150 from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, were monitoring the vote.