​PSRM LEADER DODON MAINTAINS POPULARITY LEAD AMONG PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES – POLL

Party of Socialists Secretary General MP Igor Dodon keeps leading among all potential presidential candidates in latest opinion polls, remaining the most popular among all runners, as per the research called “The Quality of Country Governance through the Prism of State-Provided Services”.

The poll was carried out by the CBS-AXA Center for Sociological Researches and Marketing by the order of “Viitorul” [“Future”] Institute for Development and Social Initiatives (IDIS) on September 14 through 25. The researchers interviewed 1,108 citizens of age eligible to vote residing in various-type populated areas across the republic. The pollsters are saying that error should not exceed ±3%.

Asked whom they would vote for had a presidential election been held next Sunday, the respondents provided the following answers: for PSRM leader Igor Dodon – 38.3%, for DA Platform Andrei Nastase – 12.6%, for Democratic Party leader Marian Lupu – 12.5%, for Our Party candidate Dmitry Ciubasenco – 7.4%, for European People’s Party of Moldova Iurie Leanca – 5.3%. Following next are independent runner Valeriu Ghiletchi with 2.5% and The Right party leader Anna Gutu 1.1%. All the rest post seekers, including Liberal Party Chairman Mihai Ghimpu, received less than 1% votes. Such were the preferences of the citizens who said they will definitely go to the polls and who have already made up their mind about whom to vote for.

Analogous preferences were recorded with yet another category of respondents – the so-called “all voters” group. Among these, 23.3% are ready to vote for Igor Dodon, 7.9% – for Maia Sandu, 7.7% – for Andrei Nastase, 7.6% – for Marian Lupu, 4.5% for Dmitry Ciubasenco, 3.2% for Iurie Leanca, and 1.5% for Valeriu Ghiletchi. The rest ones received less than 1%.

In response to the qualifying question “Whom do you see at the presidential post?” 19.3% replied – Igor Dodon. Following next are Andrei Nastase – 7.4%, Maia Sandu – 6.7%, Marian Lupu – 6.6%, and Renato Usatii – 5.7%, though Our Party leader is not running as he is too young for presidential elections, being only 37 instead of the minimum necessary age of 40.

By the level of popular trust, Igor Dodon is also leading: he is trusted by 16.5% respondents. Then go Renato Usatii – 7.3%, Andrei Nastase – 6.6%, Marian Lupu – 5.8%, Maia Sandu – 4.8%, Vladimir Voronin – 2.6%, Iurie Leanca – 2.3%.

CBS-AXA Deputy Director Vasily Cantarji said at the result presentation on Wednesday that Moldovan voters appear to be quite poorly informed about elections as such. In addition, they don't generally trust in candidates or political parties namely 40% respondents do not believe in anybody, 15% have no idea whom to vote for, and 10% stated they would not go to the polls – for sure.

According to this opinion poll, the Party of Socialists is the leader in voters’ preferences at a parliamentary election, too. Had it been held next Sunday, 35.2% of confident voters would cast their ballots for the Party of Socialists, the Democratic Party would receive 13.3%, Our Party – 13.1%, the DA Platform – 12.7%, the Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) – 9.2%, and the Communist Party – 7.2%. The rest political organizations would poll less than the 6% minimum necessary to receive seats in parliament.

Among uncertain voters, the Party of Socialists is also the most popular force, with 20.1% all respondents ready to vote for it. Then go three parties that have received 7.2 to 7.6 percent – the Democratic Party, Our Party and the DA Platform. The PAS polled slightly fewer than 6% by this indicator. So, with an account of the ±3% error, these four organizations may get to parliament and may not.