The High Court of Moldova rejected the last possible appeal against a lower court ruling invalidating the results of the May 20 / June 3 elections for the mayor seat in the capital city Chisinau. Pro-EU opposition candidate Andrei Nastase, who received the largest number of votes, will not be able to take up the post on the grounds that he campaigned on election day. 

The pro-EU opposition, which suspects the leader of the ruling coalition (also of pro-EU orientation) Vlad Plahotniuc of having used his influence among judges to prevent Nastase’s win, announced massive protests.

Furthermore, the snap election held after former mayor Dorin Chirtoaca was suspended cannot be repeated since term elections are scheduled within less than a year, in June 2019, electoral bureau member Iurie Ciocan commented. In the meantime, an interim mayor will manage the municipality.

A lower court invalidated the early local elections on grounds that both Nastase and his rival in the second round runoff, Ion Ceban of the pro-Russian Socialist Party, continued the electoral campaign on election day — specifically, the two politicians encouraged voters to exert their right to vote.

Last year, a court in Moldova suspended Chirtoaca after he came under prosecutors’ investigations for alleged corruption deeds, though these have not yet resulted in an indictment. Just like Nastase, Chirtoaca is one of the main rivals of Moldova's ruling coalition, which was built on negotiations with individual MPs rather than than on voters' support.