BUCHAREST, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Moldova's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) on Friday validated the results of the second round of the presidential election and confirmed that Maia Sandu was elected as the new president.
"The electoral contestant Maia Sandu, nominated by the PAS (Party of Action and Solidarity) and has accumulated 943,006 votes, is declared elected," announced CEC Chairman Dorin Cimil, adding that the other candidate, incumbent President Igor Dodon, had garnered 690,615 votes.
Dodon said earlier in the day that he is ready to transfer power to Sandu.
"Now it is necessary to implement a civilized transfer of power," he said, explaining that "my term as president expires on Dec. 23 and understand that the inauguration of the new president will take place on Dec. 24-25," Dodon said during his weekly live communication with citizens on social networks.
Moldova held the presidential runoff on Sunday, two weeks after the first round of the elections, as none of the eight candidates emerged from the presidential race with an absolute majority of the votes as required by the legal provisions.
This is the second duel between the two. Dodon defeated Sandu in the second round of voting in November 2016 and won his first presidential mandate.
Sandu, 48, worked for the World Bank for two years after graduating from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 2010.
She was Moldova's education minister from 2012 to 2015 and prime minister from June to November 2019. She launched a political platform that later became the Party of Action and Solidarity at the end of 2015, after leaving the office as education minister.
During the campaign, Sandu emphasized fighting corruption at home, embracing the European Union (EU) in foreign policy, while maintaining traditional relations with Russia, and seeking more funds from the EU to develop the country's economy. Enditem
