Observers Say Moldovan Election Met Standards
Moldovan soldier voting on 6 March
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7 March 2005 -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said today that Moldova's parliamentary elections yesterday generally reached acceptable international standards, but it noted shortcomings in the preelection campaign.
An OSCE statement issued in Chisinau said the elections "were generally in compliance with most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international election standards."
But the statement also said that a 500-member team of observers had concluded that Moldova "fell short of some key commitments, particularly regarding campaign conditions and media access."
In the voting, the ruling Party of Moldovan Communists suffered significant losses, but remains the largest party in parliament.
Final results show that the Communists under President Vladimir Voronin won 46.1 percent of the vote. That is likely to give them 56 of 101 assembly seats.
The centrist Democratic Moldova Bloc won 28.4 percent and the Christian Democrats had 9 percent.
(Reuters)
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