At stake in this election:

• The office of President of Moldova

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Mihai GHIMPU
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vlad FILAT
• Assembly: Moldova has a unicameral Parliament (Parlament) with 101 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is indirectly elected by parliament to serve a 4-year term.*
• The Prime Minister is designated by the president upon consultation with Parliament..
• In the Parliament (Parlament) 101 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

* The electoral system is two-round. 61 votes are needed (the votes of three-fifths of elected legislators). If more than two candidates run and none achieves this threshold, there is a runoff between the top two candidates within 10 days. If two or fewer candidates run and none achieves this threshold, there is a repeat election within 30 days. If no President is elected after a repeat election, the acting President dissolves Parliament, and there are new legislative elections. Parliament may be dissolved once per year.

*** There is a three percent threshold for independent candidates, five percent threshold for parties. An election is valid only if one-third of registered voters turn out.

Main Candidates in the Presidential race:

• Marian LUPU*
  • Bloc: Alliance for European Integration / (AEI)

* The AEI is composed of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party, and the Our Moldova Alliance

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 4,320,748 (July 2009 est.)
• Registered Voters: 101 ( Registered voter number reflects number of parliamentarians)