A pro-reform party seeking closer ties for Moldova with the European Union has won a clear majority in the parliamentary election, electoral commission results show Monday.
Sunday's election was called by President Maia Sandu, who sought to gain a parliament made up of pro-EU reformists in the former Soviet republic.
The Party of Action and Solidarity, or PAS, took almost 53% of all votes, compared to the electoral bloc of Communists and Socialists, which took 27%. Only one other party passed the threshold to gain seats in Moldova's 101-seat legislature.
Voter turnout in the nation of 3.5 million people — Europe's poorest country, landlocked between Ukraine and Romania — was just over 48%.
Sandu, a former World Bank official who used to lead the PAS, has promised to clean up corruption, fight poverty and strengthen relations with the EU.
