- Title: MOLDOVA: MOLDOVANS VOTE IN ELECTIONS THAT COULD SEE GREATER TIES WITH THE WEST
- Date: 6th March 2005
- Summary: (BN07)CHISINAU, MOLDOVA (MARCH 6, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. SLV EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION 0.07 2. CU POLLING STATION SIGN IN RUSSIAN AND ROMANIAN 0.11 3. SV INTERIOR OF POLLING STATION; WOMAN BEING REGISTERED 0.18 4. CU WOMAN SHOWING OLD SOVIET PASSPORT 0.23 5. SV/CU OF PEOPLE BEING REGISTERED TO VOTE (2 SHOTS) 0.40 (BN09)CHISINAU, MOLDOVA (MARCH 6, 2005) (REUTERS) 6. SV PULL OUT SLV PRESIDENT VLADIMIR VORONIN ENTERING POLLING STATION AND VOTING 1.10 7. SV VORONIN AND WIFE LEAVING 1.30 8. SV VORONIN LEAVING; (Russian) MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR VORONIN, SAYING: "I have voted for Moldova prosperity."/VORONIN GETTING INTO CAR 1.55 9. MCU SERAFIM URECHEAN, DEMOCRATIC MOLDOVA'S LEADER AND MAYOR OF CHISINAU ENTERING POLLING STATION 2.04 10. SV URECHEAN BEING REGISTERED; GOING INTO BOOTH 2.16 11. SLV OFFICIAL STAMPING URECHEAN'S PAPERS 2.24 12. SV CAMERA CREWS WATCHING URECHEAN CASTING VOTE 2.27 13. SV/CU URECHEAN CASTING VOTE (2 SHOTS) 2.34 14. CU OF CAMERAS 2.38 15. MCU (Romanian) SERAFIM URECHEAN, DEMOCRATIC MOLDOVA'S LEADER AND MAYOR OF CHISINAU, SAYING: "It is a decisive day for voters in Republic of Moldova, we are choosing the direction for future and I hope the electorate choice will be as it was expected." 3.03 (W3) DORODSKAYA , MOLDOVA (MARCH 6, 2005) (REUTERS) 16. SLV POLICEMEN AND PEOPLE QUEUING UP TO VOTE 3.08 17. LAS EXTERIOR OF POLLING STATION 3.13 18. SLV/SV PEOPLE QUEUING TO VOTE (2 SHOTS) 3.26 19. MCU (Russian) VALENTINA, TRANS-DNESTR RESIDENT, SAYING: "Something may change for better for our children at least, if nothing has changed for previous years." 3.41 20. CU PEOPLE GETTING BALLOT PAPERS 3.50 21. SV/CU OF PEOPLE CASTING BALLOTS (3 SHOTS) 4.09 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 21st March 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CHISINAU AND DORODSKAYA, MOLDOVA
- Country: Moldova
- Reuters ID: LVAK1K1Q6NORBNEQ8J7JZDBAOTM
- Story Text: Moldovans vote in elections that could see greater
ties with the West.
Ex-Soviet Moldova began choosing an assembly on
Sunday (March 6) in an election marked by a split between
the ruling Communists and Russia and a broad consensus to
move one of Europe's poorest countries closer to the West.
Russia has watched with alarm as Voronin has forged
links with leaders of Ukraine and Georgia, both resolved to
move out of Moscow's shadow and into the European
mainstream.
The Communist party, led by President Vladimir Voronin,
now controls 71 of parliament's 101 seats and is far in
front in opinion polls with up to 60 percent support.
Opposition parties say the Communists lack democratic
credentials and are bent on rigging the poll.
The United States and the European Union have expressed
concern at media restrictions during the campaign, and
along with neighbouring Romania have called for a clean
vote.
As polls opened, the rainsoaked streets of the capital
Chisinau were virtually empty.
Parliament chooses the president in Romanian-speaking
Moldova and Voronin is likely to retain his job.
"We are absolutely sure of our voters," he said last
week.
"I have voted for Moldova prosperity," Voronin said
after casting his vote on Sunday.
The Communists increased wages and pensions and the
economy has been growing, but analysts link that mainly to
remittances from more than half a million Moldovans working
abroad.
Voronin denies he is at odds with Russia and says the
only dispute is over its refusal to remove 1,200 troops
from Dnestr.
Challenging the Communists are the centrist Democratic
Moldova bloc, which seeks good relations with Moscow and
the West, and the right-of-centre pro-Romanian Christian
Democrats.
The opposition is campaigning under yellow and orange
colours -- symbol of liberal forces in Moldova's two
neighbours, Ukraine and Romania.
"It is a decisive day for voters in Republic of
Moldova, we are choosing the direction for future and I
hope the electorate choice will be as it was expected,"
said Serafim Urechean, Democratic Moldova's leader and
mayor of Chisinau.
The Communists get support from elderly
Russian-speaking and rural voters yearning for the
certainties of former times.
The opposition is counting on backing in some rural
areas and in Chisinau, home to one in three of Moldova's 4
million residents. Democratic Moldova scores up to 25
percent in opinion polls, while the Christian Democrats get
15 percent.
Sunday's election will bring no quick fix to Moldova's
conflict with Russian-speaking separatists in its Dnestr
region as Communists are likely to stay in power.
The Communist Party, led by Moldovan President
Vladimir Voronin, holds a big lead in opinion polls ahead
of Sunday's parliamentary election in the country of four
million wedged between Ukraine and Romania.
Voronin came to power in 2001 pledging that one of
Europe's poorest countries would forge closer ties with
Russia, but has turned against the Kremlin.
He accuses Russia of supporting the separatists by
reneging on pledges to pull out 1,200 troops from Dnestr.
Russia is anxious about Voronin's call to move closer
to Europe and out of Moscow's sphere of influence -- like
Ukraine and Georgia in the past year -- and says it is
Moldova which is blocking progress towards a solution in
Dnestr.
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