Moldovan President Maia Sandu was informed by state institutions about the existence of a huge network for buying votes, which affected the first round of the presidential elections and the referendum for joining the European Union. However, she decided to proceed with the second round of voting instead of ordering a repeat of the elections, also urging the judiciary to „wake up at the eleventh hour” and take action.
„We were asked if we should not acknowledge these elections and organize repeated elections,” said Maia Sandu in a video message posted on Facebook.
However, she stated that she believes the electoral process should not be halted and asked institutions to make public the evidence of fraud and to sanction those responsible.
Maia Sandu once again criticized the justice system in Moldova, mentioning that it "has opposed any cleansing in recent years and has failed to successfully conclude major corruption cases."
"If justice does not wake up at the eleventh hour and turns a blind eye to the selling of the country, the future of Moldova for decades is in danger," warned Maia Sandu.
Maia Sandu stated that ultimately it depends on the people to determine the future of Moldova and specifically urged Moldovans living abroad to mobilize and vote in the second round of the presidential elections.
"Let's be 350,000 Moldovans from the diaspora in the second round (in the first round, nearly 250,000 voters from the diaspora cast their votes - editor's note). We still have a battle to fight! Let's win against the thieves through the power of our vote! Call home, convince your relatives to go out and vote, tell them what we can lose, and let's mobilize and not let the country fall prey to thieves," Maia Sandu conveyed to Moldovans abroad in a separate video message.
These appeals come after the Police stated that pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who is a fugitive, sent 39 million dollars from Russia to at least 138,000 voters in September and October.
Moldovan authorities claim that the elections were affected by a massive fraud scheme aimed at defeating the pro-European camp, with Russia being involved in this scheme.
She explained, however, that she rejected suggestions to order a repeat of the elections because "no one has the right to deny citizens a massive, sincere, and free expression of their will."
"As president, I was informed by state institutions about the existence of a huge network for buying votes. We were asked if we should not acknowledge these elections and organize repeated elections.
The electoral process must not be stopped for one essential reason: the massive, sincere, and free vote of citizens who voted out of love for the country cannot be canceled by anyone. (...) The massive vote of citizens gives us an enormous credit of trust and validation that the path we have chosen is the right one. (...) At the same time, we must not allow the realization of destabilization scenarios in the country. (...) We are moving on to the second round. (...) We rely on the mobilization of people who see that the country is under siege, who see that a Trojan horse has been placed in our country," Maia Sandu stated.
"Let's move forward to the second round. We strictly rely on our people, as has always been the case when the fate of the country was at stake," she said, emphasizing that it is the duty of the judiciary to "wake up" and address the issue of electoral bribery.
"The whole nation knows, only they don't know what was in the bag received by Dodon from Plahotniuc. Only they don't know who the people are who stole the billion from the citizens of Moldova. The justice system in Moldova did not see how Ilan Shor won the elections in Orhei, Gagauzia, and other local elections," mentioned the head of state.
The current president came in first in the presidential elections, but did not manage to obtain 50% of the votes and is now facing a second round of voting against former Prosecutor General Alexandr Stoianoglo, who is supported by a traditional pro-Russian party.
In the referendum, a surprisingly small majority compared to opinion polls - 50.46% of voters - supported joining the EU.
On Sunday night, a few hours after the polling stations closed, Maia Sandu called the campaign "an unfair fight" and claimed victory in the referendum meant to enshrine Moldova's path towards the EU in the Constitution. She stated that there are "clear evidence" that criminal groups supported by "foreign forces hostile to national interests" sought to buy 300,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Moscow denounced the Moldovan vote as not being free. On Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, stated that the United States and the European Union interfered in the campaign.