The Moldovan opposition has rejected the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections, with former President Igor Dodon calling for mass demonstrations across the country. The Pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), led by President Maia Sandu, narrowly secured a majority with just over 50 percent of the vote, sparking immediate accusations of fraud.
Dodon, head of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc (BEP), declared that his party—the largest opposition force—would not recognize the outcome. He urged supporters to “defend democracy in the streets,” prompting thousands to rally outside parliament in Chișinău late Sunday evening. Protesters waved Moldovan flags and chanted against Sandu’s government, demanding fresh elections and an independent review of the vote count.
The opposition has highlighted several alleged irregularities. Voters from the breakaway region of Transnistria, where anti-Sandu sentiment runs deep, were reportedly blocked in large numbers from crossing the Dniester River due to ongoing construction on key bridges. Meanwhile, Moldovan citizens living in Russia—numbering around 500,000 and overwhelmingly opposed to PAS—were largely disenfranchised. Only two polling stations were opened in Moscow, both of which closed early, allowing just 4,000 votes to be cast. By contrast, the Moldovan diaspora across the European Union was granted full access to polling stations with no reported issues, reinforcing the government’s strong support base among EU-based expatriates.
Adding to the controversy, the Sandu government restricted international election observers from monitoring the vote and withheld exit polling data after the polls closed—steps that, critics argue, would normally draw harsh condemnation from Western governments had they occurred elsewhere.
Prior to the election, reports circulated that NATO and Ukrainian troops could intervene in Moldova if PAS were to lose. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky even submitted a bill to Kyiv’s parliament days before the vote authorizing the deployment of Ukrainian forces abroad. At the same time, Romanian troops were reported to be stationed in growing numbers along the Moldovan border.
Sandu, who first won the presidency in 2020 thanks to strong diaspora turnout in the EU, has since relied heavily on that same bloc of voters to secure her re-election and consolidate PAS’s parliamentary victories. For the opposition, the weekend’s election marks yet another instance of what they claim is a deliberate sidelining of Moldovans at home in favor of those abroad.