Thread by @DionisCenusa

#Moldova: The second round of the elections in the autonomy of Gagauz has begun. Voters will vote for one of two candidates: Gutul/Shor Party or Uzun/Socislistas. I open a thread to highlight the important aspects. Yesterday's thread explains the nuances of these elections👇⤵️

https://twitter.com/dioniscenusa/status/1657324121028456450

1) Yesterday, the legal body of autonomy (People's Assembly) accused the central authorities (PAS/Sandu) of illegal interference in the elections and intimidation of the Gagauz electoral body that could hinder the course of the elections.⤵️

In reality, the central authority must ensure the integrity of the electoral process. However, the corrupt behavior of the candidates (that refers to the Shor Party) and the weak dialogue between the central and local authorities have created an environment of mutual mistrust.⤵️

2) Turnout is high enough to exceed 1/3 of ~92,500 eligible voters at the end of voting day. So far, almost 24% of the votes have been cast. A bit more than 7 hours until the end of the voting at 22:00 (CET).⤵️

The second round of the elections in Gagauzia can be validated. More than 35% of eligible voters showed up. However, the electoral authorities will have to give the last word in the coming days.

Soon, the voting polls will be closed. 45% or almost 40,000 voters have cast their vote. Who will win: Gutul/Shor Party or Uzun/Socialists? With or without the exclusion of the Shor Party, the Gagauz autonomy will be governed by a pro-Russian political force, in a way or another.

The elections are over. The media reported that the Anti-Corruption Center has initiated an investigation into members of the Gagauz electoral authority for registering Marina Tauber (who is under house arrest for illegal party financing) as a representative of⤵️

Evgenia Gutul (US-sanctioned Shor Party candidate). The final day of registration of candidates was on April 1st. The first round of elections took place on April 30. Theoretically, the anticorruption agency had more than one month to press charges but didn’t do so. ⤵️

If this info is accurate then the anti-corruption waited until the end of the 2nd round to bring up these accusations against the Gagauz electoral body’s members. Either there are serious institutional dysfunctions or some political groups in the power are pulling the strings.

54.5% is the participation in the second round. This is only slightly worse than the result of the first round: 57.8%.