Candidates Set for Gagauzia Governor and People's Assembly Elections

Gagauzia's Central Election Commission (MSS) said that the deadline for candidate nominations for the Gagauzia governor and People's Assembly (GHT) elections, scheduled for 15 November 2026, ended on 6 October. According to a report by the Ana Sözü newspaper, eight candidates were registered for governor.

Three of the governor candidates were nominated by parties: Fyodor Gagauz (Moldova Socialist Party), Ivan Kilcik (Gagauz People's Party) and Petr Vlah (New Historic Election Party). The other five candidates are independent. Although 37 of Moldova's 66 political parties and organisations were eligible to take part in the Gagauzia governor election, only three parties nominated candidates. The ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) did not field a candidate.

For the People's Assembly, 135 candidates were registered for 35 single-mandate constituencies. Of them, 42 (31.1%) were nominated by parties and 93 (68.9%) declared themselves independent. Of the candidates, 112 (83%) are men and 23 (17%) are women. The newspaper wrote that the large number of registrations may be linked to so-called spoiler candidates, who are intended to split votes away from a leading contender, but said it does not know these candidates and only has suspicions.