Chisinau mayor accused of fraud in Romanian presidential election

Chisinau mayor Dorin Chirtoaca has been accused by the Romanian Social Democratic Party (SDP) of fraud in the Romanian presidential elections.

The SPD sent a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Catalin Predoiu, asking him if he can guarantee that the elections organized abroad were free and fair.

Mr. Chirtoaca is accused of organizing the so-called "Bus Operation" in Moldova, which means he allegedly took people on buses to the polling station and suggested that they vote for Mr. Basescu.

Former Romanian Presidential candidate in 2004 and former Prime Minister (2000-2004) Adrian Nastase also suggested wrong-doing in Chisinau, saying on his blog that the Chisinau mayor was not subject to Romanian electoral rules and that potential fraud was much much difficult to identify there.

During the presidential elections on December 7, incumbent Traian Basescu received about 95 percent of the vote of nearly 13,000 Romanians living in Moldova who cast a ballot.

Mr. Basescu overwhelmingly won the total diaspora vote.

In a situation in which Romanians in the country were basically split in half in terms of their preferences for Traian Basescu or his Social Democratic opponent Mircea Geoana, a lot of Romanians have said that the diaspora vote put Mr. Basescu over the top.

h/t www.hotnews.ro