Moldova’s pro-Western incumbent Maia Sandu took the lead in Sunday’s presidential run-off election, overtaking challenger Alexandr Stoianoglo with 92 per cent of the vote counted, the Central Election Commission’s website showed.
Sandu had 50.28 per cent share of that vote, the website showed.
Two Chisinau-based political analysts, Vladislav Kulminski and Valeriu Pasha, said their assessment was the results indicated Sandu had won a second four-year term and defeated Stoianoglo, an ex-prosecutor-general.
The diaspora vote, which includes Moldovans living in Western capitals and favoured Sandu in the October 20 first round, is typically counted last.
Neither Sandu nor Stoianoglo, who was backed by the pro-Russian Socialist Party, has claimed victory or admitted defeat.
The election and the campaign before it have been overshadowed by persistent claims of meddling.
