Moldova's ruling Communists, once allied to Moscow but now favouring European integration, fell short of an absolute majority in a parliamentary election in the ex-Soviet state, results showed today.
With all votes tallied from Sunday's poll, the Communists under President Vladimir Voronin were ahead with 46.1 per cent. That is likely to give them 56 of 101 assembly seats, enough to pass laws but short of the 61 needed to re-elect the president.
The centrist Democratic Moldova bloc, which favours improved ties with Moscow and the West, won 28.4 per cent and is likely to get 34 seats. The Christian Democrats, who back closer alignment with adjacent Romania, had 9.07 per cent and 11 seats.
Voronin, confident of victory before the vote, had campaigned on moving closer to western Europe. He accused Moscow of interfering in tiny Moldova by supporting Russian-speaking separatists in its Dnestr region on the Ukrainian border.
"As far as we know, there were no serious irregularities which could have affected the outcome. Most complaints were about voting procedures," Valentin Vizant, Secretary of Moldova's Central Election Commission, told reporters.
"The elections were valid," he added, referring to turnout clearing the necessary 50 per cent. "They were conducted in a democratic and transparent fashion."
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe were to assess the vote this morning. The OSCE has deemed several elections in ex-Soviet states short of international standards.