Moldova to elect new parliament.

CHISINAU, July 29 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova will hold an early
parliamentary election on Wednesday. Under the republic's law, the
parliament elects the president and appoints government officials.

It will be the second early parliamentary election for Moldova this
year, and it is the first time the voting will take place on a day-off
other than Sunday.
The previous election in April ended in mass protests staged by the
Opposition after the Communists' victory. The protests escalated to riots,
and crowds of young people stage broke into the parliament and the
presidential residence and stage pogroms there.
The country then was plunged into a political crisis, as the lawmakers
were unable to elect the new president to replace Vladimir Voronin, who is
completing his second and last term in office.
The Communists had 60 of 101 mandates in the new parliament, but were
unable to secure just one-vote to usher in the presidential office
Voronin's successor - Prime Minister Zinaida Grecianii.
Meanwhile, the Opposition did not conceal the fact that it had
provoked the dissolution of the parliament in order to secure better
results in an early parliamentary election.
Taking part in the election on party lists in a single constituency
will be eight parties: the Party of Communists of Moldova, the People's
Christian-Democratic Party, the Moldova Noastra (Our Moldova) Alliance,
the Liberal Party, the Liberal-Democratic Party, the Democratic Party, the
Social-Democratic Party and the Environmental Party of Moldova "Green
Alliance."
It was the shortest and most aggressive election campaign in the
republic's election history. The election campaign ended on Monday, July
27.
For six consecutive weeks, all television channels showed the footage
of the disturbances in April, with scores of police and protesters running
blood. However, the same videos had different comments.
Special attention was paid to the "external factor." The Russian
factor was among major ones, despite the fact that all the Moldovan
parties, including Communists, underlined in their programs the priority
of European integration, and some even called for joining NATO.
Also, despite the illusiveness of the Euroatlantic integration
prospect for the country, the Opposition was accusing the authorities of
an "anti-European" course.
Russia supported the incumbent Moldovan government: during President
Vladimir Voronin's visit to Moscow, a decision was made to extend a
500-million-dollar credit to Moldova. Chinese Communists also pledged a
one billion dollar loan to the their Moldovan colleagues to implement
infrastructure projects.
Local analysts note that the upcoming voting is unlikely to make
dramatic changes in the established setup of forces. Although the
parliament has decreased the election threshold from 6 to 5 percent, only
four political parties are able to gain seats in the parliament.
The Communists remain clear favorites, and are expected to net 30 to
40 percent of votes, followed by Liberal, Democratic and Liberal
Democratic Parties. The last three parties may gather 13.2, 9.6 and 7.2
percent of votes, respectively.
Therefore, the trend of 2005 persists, as the Communists continue to
control almost half of the electorate, while the re-distribution of votes
in the Opposition traditionally benefits new players.
According to some forecasts, Democratic Party is likely to win seats
in the parliament this time. Analysts explain its increasing popularity by
the admission to its ranks of former parliament speaker Marian Lupu, who
quit the Communist Party in June.
However, opinion polls are vague on whether the Communists will gain a
majority in the parliament, to enable them to elect the president of their
choice.
This depends on 24 percent of voters, who remain undecided, according
to opinion polls.
One thing is clear, however: the election will take place regardless.
According to the election law, they will be valid even if just one-third
of voters turns up at polling stations. Even if this turnout fails, a
repeat voting will take place in two weeks without consideration of any
turnout results.
Moldova has a 2.6-million electorate.
The republic's Central Election Commission plans to open 1,807 voting
stations, including 33 abroad where more than 500,000 Moldovans work,
according to unofficial statistics.
The situation in the breakaway Dniester region complicated the
election campaign, as the leaders of the province against refused to take
part in the voting.
CEC Secretary Iurie Ciocan told Itar-Tass on Monday that preparations
for the July 29 elections had been completed.
"During the period of preparation, which was brief - just 45 days -
the CEC did everything to rule out the possibility of fraud. We've
re-checked the lists of voters, and taken a number of other measures.
We're confident of the reliability of the vote-count system and the
professionalism and competence of our personnel," Ciocan said.
"The voting will begin at 07:00 (08:00, Moscow time) and end at 21:00
(22:00, Moscow time," he added.
Preliminary reports said the CEC had registered 2,500 local observers
and some 500 foreign observers.
Several non-government organizations will conduct exit polls.
-0-myz