Pro-Russian’s Governorship Win in Moldova’s Gagauzia Upheld

The new governor of the pro-Russian autonomous region of Gagauzia, Evghenia Gutul, publicly thanked her supporters on Tuesday after the Court of Appeal in the region's main city Comrat decided the previous evening to validate the results of the May 14 elections for the position of bashkan (governor).

"Thank you for being with me. I thank you. I also thank my team," said Evghenia Gutul, who was the candidate of the Ilan Shor Party, which is led by a fugitive oligarch who is wanted to serve a jail sentence for large-scale theft.

Gutul's election came after a controversial campaign marred by accusations of fraud from the central authorities from Chisinau.

However, the president of the Electoral Commission of Gagauzia, Iana Covalenco, said that "no obvious irregularities were found that could have affected the election results".

She asked the court on Monday to recognise the victory of Gutul with 52 per cent of the votes, while her opponent, Socialist Party candidate Grigori Uzun, took 48 per cent.

The Court of Appeal in Comrat took its decision to validate Gutul's mandate after evaluating a letter from the Central Electoral Commission in the Moldovan capital Chisinau to the electoral commission in Comrat, in which cases of organised bussing of voters were reported.

However, Covalenco said that no video or audio evidence was attached to the letter to confirm such incidents.

The Moldovan authorities opened a criminal case for vote-buying and the illegal financing of the Shor Party's candidates after the first round of the elections in Gagauzia on April 30.

Police claimed that they had evidence showing that activists from the Ilan Shor Party would each have received 15,000 lei (750 euros) if they convinced 30...