Moldova isn’t rich, even in wine-producing spots like this, and huge numbers have left the country to seek better lives and incomes overseas. That’s created a diaspora so large, its vote has become decisive.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the surge in energy prices has strained the economy even further – to near zero growth.
“The politicians have fancy paper to print their election posters and flyers, but there’s nothing decent for our kids’ schoolbooks,” one of the mums grumbles, displaying a photo on her phone of school books, tattered and torn.
Another says her salary on a factory production line is stuck at around £100 a month but the cost of living has soared. “I don’t know who to vote for, they all make promises,” she shrugs. “Then they do nothing.”
Beyond PAS, the choice on Sunday includes the Patriotic Bloc made up primarily of the Socialist and Communist parties. A key member, Irina Vlah, was barred from running on Friday because of allegations of illicit financing.
Another bloc, Alternativa, posits itself as pro-EU but its candidates include the Chisinau mayor who is banned from travel in Europe’s Schengen zone for unspecified security reasons. He’s appealing the ruling.