CHISINAU MAYORAL ELECTION MAY REQUIRE ONLY ONE ROUND – OPINION POLL

The Chisinau mayoral election may well be completed already in the first round on October 20, as per the opinion poll carried out by the CBS-AXA Center for Sociological Researches and Marketing by order of the non-governmental organization WatchDog.md.

According to the poll results presented in Chisinau on Monday, had a local election been held in Moldova next Sunday, 25.7% respondents would cast their ballots for Party of Socialists (PSRM) candidate Ion Ceban, 19% -- for ACUM bloc Co-Chairperson Andrei Nastase, 5.1% -- for Liberal Party Chairman Dorin Chirtoaca. Yet 21.5% respondents were uncertain, 9.1% said they have made up their mind, but would rather withhold their choice, and 7.1% stated they would not go to the polls.

Among those who have decided and spoken out their choice, Ion Ceban would poll 41.7%, Andrei Nastase – 30.8%, Dorin Chirtoaca 8.3%, and all the rest candidates under 5% each.

Compared with the previous poll, presented by CBS-AXA and Watchdog on September 25, Ion Ceban’s indicators have grown noticeably – by 12.1%, Nastase’s – by only 0.1%, and Chirtoaca’s figures dropped by 3.1%.

According to Watchdog expert Valeriu Pasa, an analysis of those, who preferred to withhold their choice last time (11.5%) is showing that there are many supporters of the Party of Socialists among them, judging by whom they voted for at the February 24 parliamentary election.

“Besides this, the number of uncertain respondents has diminished noticeably – mostly in Ion Ceban’s favor. The votes of Ruslan Codreanu supporters (5.9%) have also gone into Ceban’s favor. So, Codreanu’s exclusion from the election race became beneficial for Ceban. Strategic dialog for Andrei Nastase, we can see a stagnation”, said Valeriu Pasa.

The poll was carried out by the CBS-AXA company on September 25 to October 4 among 504 permanent residents of Chisinau. The pollsters are saying the error should not be in the excess of ±4.4%.