Silvia Radu

All the main political parties in Moldova on Wednesday or Thursday submitted their lists of candidates to the Central Electoral Commission for the parliamentary elections due on February 24.

Under the new and controversial "mixed" electoral system, half the winning candidates for the 101 seats will come from party lists and half will be elected in constituencies.

The pro-Russian Socialist candidate Ion Ceban won the first round of elections for City Hall in Chisinau with 40.97 per cent of the vote, according to official data made public on Sunday night by the Central Electoral Commission - but did not get enough support to take the mayoralty outright.