Campaign spending in runoff elections tops 5 million lei

The candidates participating in the second round of local elections spent a total of over 5 million lei on their campaigns. The largest expenditures – 2.39 million lei – were reported to the Central Election Commission by the Communists' Party, at the opposite pole are ten parties, which reported zero spending. The next largest spenders after the Communists are the Democrats, who reported 1.71 million lei, followed by the Liberals, with 1.10 million lei, and the Liberal-Democrats, with 0.18 million lei. The Christian Democratic People's Party reported less than 8,000 lei in campaign spending. The spending reports from the following parties returned blank: the National Liberal Party, the Socialists' Party, the 'Our Home is Moldova' Party, the Social Democratic Party, the 'Third Force' Party, the Centrist Union Party, the 'Law and Justice' Party, the Republican Party, the 'Nation and Country' Party, and the 'Green Alliance' Party. There are 15 political parties which have candidates the current runoff elections, the most represented being the Liberal Democratic Party, with 311 candidates; the Democratic Party, with 243 candidates, the Communists' Party, with 240 candidates; and the Liberal Party, with 124 candidates. Other parties have from 1 to 11 candidates. Also, there are 61 independent candidates participating in the runoff local elections. Runoff mayoral elections are held in 512 communities across the country.