CANDIDATE RENATO USATII IS CONVINCED HE WILL DEFEAT IGOR DODON

Renato Usatii, leader of the Partidul Nostru (Our Party) and the Mayor of Moldova’s second largest city of Balti, is convinced that he will not only be elected to the second round of the upcoming presidential election but will also defeat Igor Dodon on November 15.

Speaking on a local television channel on Tuesday evening, Usatii stated that in the second round he will poll 60% ballots and Dodon – 40%, “though Dodon is desperately trying to save the situation with the help of voters in Russia and in the Transnistrian region”.

“Dodon was demanding to organize voting for him in Transnistria and in Russia – minimum 50 thousand ballots each. In Russia, Moldova citizens were demanded to photograph their filled-in ballot-papers next to their passports [after which the papers can be dropped into the voting box]. But Dodon came to face problems both in Transnistria and Russia. As it is known, his relationship with Sheriff [all-mighty Transnistrian holding, ill-famed as ‘the master of the country’] is awful, so voters from the region will be bussed only till the bridge across the Dniester River. As I have learnt, there are groups of veterans of the 1992 armed conflict, who are intending to block such buses. In Russia, Dodon guys are also failing to ensure the voting of 50 thousand people. There, maximum 10 thousand Moldovans are likely to come to the polls”, said Renato Usatii.

The opposition politician criticized election runners for their inconsistency in struggle against corruption at the highest level.

“Everybody is shouting about the struggle against corruption, but nobody would put forward concrete decisions or draft laws. As for me, I propose to introduce concrete, high sentences for corruption – from 15 years up to a life imprisonment with the confiscating of the personal property from all closest relatives. Believe me, when the mother-in-law of a corrupt official learns that her house is going to be withdrawn from her, she will immediately start giving evidence against her corrupt son-in-law. I have never stolen anything, and as president I shall not permit this to anybody”, stated the presidential candidate.