Moldova’s capital has always been the main battleground for all political parties in the country. The year 2023 was no exception as local elections were held on 5 November this year in several districts, villages and towns across the country. Chisinau did not change its importance in this election either as the stakes were as high as in previous years of local elections.
In essence, Chisinau and the battle for this city took shape with the affirmation of the independence of the Republic of Moldova on August 27, 1991 and the city remained the capital and became the main target for all new and old parties. Starting with the first mayor of the capital Nicolae Costin, the political and electoral battles for the city began. A clear example of this battle is the 2007-2018 elections in which the winner was the candidate of the Liberal Party (pro-European party), Dorin Chirtoaca, who in turn had the candidates of the Party of Communists (pro-Russian party) Veaceslav Iordan (2007) and the Party of Socialists (pro-Russian party) Igor Dodon and Zinaida Greceanii (2011, 2015) as his opponents in the second round. Thus, the idea of the importance of Chisinau for the political parties of the Republic of Moldova and the fact that this city will be the land of battles between the exponents of the right-wing (mainly Pro-European) and left-wing (mainly Pro-Russian) parties gradually took shape.
The local elections of 20 October 2019 was a turning point due to the different results from the previous ones, when the mayor became an exponent of a Pro-European party, while after the local elections of 2019 Ion Ceban, at that time an exponent of the Party of Socialists (Pro-Russian party), was elected mayor. Thus, the unusual result that Ion Ceban obtained against the candidate of the Platform for Dignity and Truth party (Pro-European party), Andrei Nastase, prompted the Pro-European parties to start a new battle for the capital. This battle is characterised by the acute politicisation of the Chisinau Municipal Council and the formation of formal coalitions between exponents of parties that differ in doctrine.
The local elections of 5 November 2023 are a logical continuation of the political battle for the capital, but for the first time in the history of the Republic of Moldova, the mayor elected in 2019 changes his party, leaving the Party of Socialists (Pro-Russian party) and forms his own party, which he announces from the mayor’s podium, the National Alternative Movement Party (declared Pro-European party) headed by Ion Ceban. It is worth noting that this party, which is led by the mayoral administration, is headed by Ion Ceban, who, in the 2019 local elections, ran on the lists of a party declared Pro-Russian (Party of Socialists) and on 21 December 2022, after long debates in the press that began in 2021 about the conflict between Ion Ceban and the leadership of the Party of Socialists, he announced the creation of his own Pro-European party with the name MAN (National Alternative Movement) and on 17 January 2023 this party was registered.
Thus, the main electoral battle for the capital on 5 November 2023 was largely between the declared pro-European parties PAS (Action and Solidarity Party) currently in government and MAN (National Alternative Movement), which managed for the first time in the history of Chisinau to win the mayor’s seat in the first round by accumulating a score of 50.62% (132 803 votes) and to obtain the highest score in the Chisinau Municipal Council 33.25% (85 553 votes) = 20 seats.
Finally, we can see that this year’s local elections, 2023, is a first battle or rather a battle research because in 2024 there will be presidential elections and in 2025 there will be parliamentary elections.
