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Europe | ||
Moldova votes for parliament amid Russian discontent | ||
2005-03-06 | ||
CHISINAU - Moldova votes for a new parliament Sunday with the election likely to place the impoverished nation firmly on a pro-European path, the third ex-Soviet republic to turn away from Moscow's influence in little over a year. Voters will choose deputies for a 101-seat parliament that will then elect the president of the country sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, considered to be Europe's poorest, with per capita gross national product barely 600 dollars. The Communists, who hold 71 seats in the outgoing chamber, are considered the front-runners in a field of nine parties, two blocs and a dozen individual candidates.
Although the Communists came to power in 2001 on a pro-Russia ticket, they have since done an about-face, partly because of disagreements with Moscow over its troop presence in the separatist region of Trandsdniestr, which Russia has tacitly supported ever since it broke away from Chisinau after a short war in 1992. Tensions between Chisinau and Moscow have increased ahead of the vote, with Moldova refusing entry to dozens of Russians who presented themselves as election observers on the eve of the poll. Moldova has accused Russia of encouraging Transdniestr activists to stage provocations during the election and had expelled dozens of Russians out of the country in the weeks ahead of the vote. Russia has fumed at the change in its former satellite, which was historically part of Romania and over which Moscow
But most observers dismiss such a possibility, saying the Communists have been careful not to give the opposition a reason to launch the mass protests that helped bring down regimes in Georgia and Ukraine. | ||
Posted by:Steve White |