2015 Gagauzian gubernatorial election

Gubernatorial elections were held in Gagauzia on 22 March 2015. Irina Vlah was elected Governor (Başkan) with 51% of the vote. She subsequently resigned from parliament upon becoming Governor in April.[1][2]

2015 Gagauzian gubernatorial election

22 March 2015

Campaign

In 2014, before running for governor, Irina Vlah left the Communist faction in Parliament, protesting that the party's national leadership was betraying pro-Russian voters.[3] She was also one of the initiators of a movement that led to the 2015 referendum for Gagauzia to join the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.[4] During the 2015 campaign Russian celebrities and deputies of the Russian State Duma publicly backed Vlah; in response the Moldovan government accused Russia of meddling in the election and threatened to ban those involved from entering the country.[5] Ukraine reinforced its western border adjacent to Gagauzia upon the victory of Vlah, a pro-Russian candidate, only a year after the annexation of Crimea and amidst the ongoing war against Russian-backed forces in its eastern provinces.[6]

Vlah herself claimed that she faced opposition due to her status as the only female gubernatorial candidate, and that her electoral triumph represented a victory against "patriarchal stereotypes".[7]

All candidates ran as independents. However, Vlah ran with the support of the Party of Socialists. Valerii Ianioglo was supported by United Gagauzia, whilst Nicolai Dudoglo was backed by the Democratic Party, the Equality Movement and New Gagauzia.[8]

Two candidates, Serghei Buzadji and Oleg Caici, withdrew from the elections. Buzadji subsequently gave his support to Vlah, whilst Caici supported Dudoglo.[8]

Results

Candidate	Votes	%
Irina Vlah	32,543	51.11
Nikolay Dudoglo	12,136	19.06
Valery Yanioglo	5,080	7.98
Dmitry Kroytor	3,956	6.21
Oleg Garizan	3,251	5.11
Alexander Stoyanoglo	3,174	4.98
Ruslan Garbala	3,075	4.83
Leonid Dobrov	253	0.40
Sergey Chernev	122	0.19
Ilya Anastasov	84	0.13
Invalid/blank votes	359	–
Total	63,033	100
Registered voters/turnout	109,998	58.21
Source: eDemocracy

References

1. "Irina Vlah won the election of the head of the Gagauz autonomy". AIF. 23 March 2015. (in Russian)
2. "Irina Vlah". Alegeri. (in Romanian)
3. "Sting taken by the Communists. Deputy Irina Vlah left the PCRM faction". Timpul. 29 December 2014. (in Romanian)
4. "Gagauzia goes to the Customs Union: Moldovan Autonomy asks Moscow for Protection". Independent. 25 March 2014. (in Russian)
5. "Gagauzia. Election of the Bashkan". Russia 1. 22 March 2015.
6. "Ukraine tightened control on the border with Gagauzia". IA Tiras. 23 March 2015. (in Russian)
7. "Irina Vlakh: "Gagauzia breaks patriarchal stereotypes"". Eurasian Women's Community News Agency. 14 November 2018. (in Russian)
8. Elections of the Governor (Bashkan) of Gagauzia (Gagauz Yeri) on March 22, 2015 eDemocracy