Heavyweights of the Party of Socialists (PSRM) and the Party “Platform Dignity and Truth” (PPPDA) do not rule out the possibility that the election of Andrei Nastase as mayor of Chisinau could be ultimately validated. The leader of the Socialist group on the Chisinau Municipal Council Ion Ceban, Andrei Nastase’s rival in the mayoral elections, said he does not understand this game by which the local elections were invalidated. PPPDA deputy chairman Alexandru Slusari said that if the election is validated, he hopes Andrei Nastase will take up his duties next week, IPN reports.

Ion Ceban stated he does not understand why the local elections were nullified as this decisions concerns him too, as an ex-candidate for mayor. An agreement could have been reached by those who took the decision and the mayor-elect as only Andrei Nastase stands to gain from this situation. “The Democratic Party keeps all the resources available at the City Hall and only the PSRM suffers in this case,” he noted, adding that the invalidation of the election was a surprise for him, but he considers the election of Andrei Nastase could be finally validated.

For his part, Alexandru Slusari said the Appeals Court pronounced on the Socialists’ claim concerning the involvement of foreign figures in Andrei Nastase’s campaign, ruling that no violation was committed. “The Appeals Court held that this was stating of the opinion and not call to vote Andrei Nastase,” he noted. The deputy chairman of the PPPDA voiced hope that the election of Andrei Nastase will be validated and this could start his job next week or all the citizens will be urged to take to the streets.

Civic activist Sergiu Ungureanu said the Democratic leader Vladimir Plahotniuc showed once again that he has everything under control. This move could have been made to create a conflict situation and frighten the people. “What we see now is that the power showed once again that it will do its best to prevent the elected candidate from becoming mayor even if it lost the elections. This scenario could have been arranged on May 20, but I think they planned everything in detail,” stated Sergiu Ungureanu.

In the evening of June 19, the Centru branch of the Court of Chisinau decided to not validate the new mayoral elections held in Chisinau, which yielded Andrei Nastase as winner.