BUCHAREST, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Moldova will hold direct presidential elections on Sunday, a change from the past 16 years during which the head of state was indirectly elected by parliament.
As many as 3 million citizens are expected at the polling stations to elect a new president, at a time of tensions between pro-Russian and pro-European camps in the former Soviet republic landlocked between Romania and Ukraine.
The race is contested by nine candidates, including three independent ones. The main competitors are pro-Russian politician Igor Dodon, leader of the Socialist Party; and former Education Minister Maia Sandu, head of the Action and Solidarity Party, who supports deeper cooperation with the European Union.
The ruling Democratic Party candidate, former President Marian Lupu, announced his withdrawal earlier this week to "consolidate the supporters of the European choice."
Dodon was leading by double digits in most polls ahead of the voting. A poll conducted on Oct. 21 by the independent Moldovan Association of Sociologists and Demographers showed him with 40.5 percent support, while his rival Sandu had 13 percent.
Moldova is still shrouded in the shadow of a corruption scandal in which a total of 1 billion U.S. dollars, or around 10 percent of the country's gross domestic product, disappeared from its banking system.
The scandal sparked large-scale protests last year, eroded the confidence in pro-European politicians and has partially contributed to the Socialists' gain in popularity.
