Moldova Conducts Local Elections Amid Claims of Russian Interference and Ban on Pro-Russia Party Candidates

Suspicion grows as intelligence report discloses party's receipt of $53 million used to manipulate voter turnout, with Moldova Prime Minister blocking 600 pro-Russia candidates.

Moldova conducted local elections with accusations of Russian interference which saw the election of nearly 900 mayors and 11,000 local councilors.
Two days before the election, Moldova Prime Minister Dorin Recean banned about 600 candidates from the pro-Russian Chance Party, justified by a report alleging Russian attempts to influence the electoral process through that party.
Moldova’s national intelligence agency reported that the Chance Party had received around $53 million from Russia, arranged by exiled Moldovan oligarch Ilan Shor, to destabilize the country and secure votes.
Ilan Shor, who lives in Israel and has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for fraud charges in absentia, called the ban an 'unprecedented, illegal, raiding power grab' and provided a list of alternative candidate endorsements.
Russian interference also took the form of disinformation campaigns run by Russian media sites as well as local TV stations linked to Shor and another exiled oligarch, Vladimir Plahotniuc - both added to US and UK sanction lists last year.