Pro-Russian Candidate Wins Governorship of Moldova’s Gagauzia Region

Local elections in Moldova's pro-Russian autonomous region of Gagauzia were won on Sunday by the Ilan Shor Party's candidate, Evghenia Gutul, according to results published by the Electoral Commission in Comrat, the central administrative city in the region.

In the second round of voting for the post of governor of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul got 52.39 per cent of the votes while her opponent Grigori Uzun, supported by the pro-Russian Socialist Party, got 47.61 per cent of the votes.

Police said there were a series of violations during the voting, including vote-buying by the Ilan Shor Party, which was also accused of fraud during the first round.

The Ilan Shor Party was also accused of bussing voters to the polling stations. Prosecutors have opened a criminal case based on the allegations.

Pro-Russian leaders and administrative officials in Gagauzia have often defied the central Chisinau authorities but been treated leniently, political analysts said.

"The leaders of Comrat behave as if they are outside the Moldovan state, as if the legality of the sources of financing for the electoral campaign, the obligation to ensure democratic, free and fair elections, do not concern them. Let's see how Chisinau will respond," wrote political analyst Nicolae Negru.

The Ilan Shor Party, led by the fugitive oligarch Ilan Shor, who is wanted for arrest to serve a fraud sentence, rejected the accusations and accused the pro-European government in Moldova of political pressure.

"We will defend the citizens' right to a free choice by all legal means," the party said in a statement.

On April 13, the Chisinau Court of Appeal sentenced Shor in absentia to 15 years in jail for his role in the so-called 'Grand Theft' of $1 billion...