PRO-WESTERN parties in Moldova have pulled off a shock election result by defeating Europe's last ruling Communists.
With close to all the votes counted, Moldova's four main opposition parties managed to win 53 seats in the country's 101-seat parliament although the Communists, led by Vladimir Voronin, the country's president, still remains the biggest single party
with 48 MPs.
The victorious liberal parties wasted little time in describing the election as a sea change in Moldovan politics and one that could bring the country, sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania, closer to the Western European fold.
"The Communist Party will have to join the ranks of the opposition and must not disturb Moldova on its path towards European integration," said Dorin Chritoaca, deputy head of the opposition Liberal Party.
Vlad Filat, leader of the Liberal Democrats, the second-biggest party, said: "Democracy and truth has finally been victorious. We fought for this for so long and with so many difficulties."
Alexandru Tanase, deputy chairman of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said the Communists had lost despite an "exhausting campaign where there were enormous pressures not just on the political parties, but also on the ordinary people."
The victorious parties said that they would now start on negotiations to form a coalition government. The election exposed the rift between elderly, rural voters, who backed the last Communist government in the former Soviet Union, and young city dwellers who look to the European Union.
"I voted for Moldova's future in Europe," said Vasile Untilov, who supported the Liberal Democrats. He said he still kept his Soviet-era Communist Party membership card.
"They (the Communists] are just like furniture – remove it, and your room all of a sudden looks different."
The Communist defeat came in the wake of violently-disputed elections in April that gave them a marginal victory. But with parliament unable to choose a new president to replace Mr Voronin, fresh elections were called.
Mr Voronin, a veteran Communist who has served two four-year terms as the nation's president, said that it was "an important achievement" that the country had "organised civilised and democratic elections".
The result could provide a boost to Moldovans wanting to see their country reformed and establish closer ties with the West as a way of improving their dire economic situation.
On average, a Moldovan takes home just £156 a month, as much as a quarter of the workforce now earns its money abroad, and the country has been hit hard by the economic recession.
A change could also re-invigorate a political climate where leading politicians still place flowers at the foot of statues to Lenin, and one that the opposition has labelled as oppressive, and violent.
In the wake of April's elections activists complained of police brutality and the secret service intimidating anyone prepared to take a stand against the Communist government.
But hopes for a quick fix to the country's woes could well be dashed.
Although liberal parties won the majority of the vote they failed to secure enough seats in parliament to vote for their choice of president.
If this situation persists then the country could be left in political limbo until it goes to the polls again at the start of next year, and Mr Voronin will remain in power.
"Voronin is still there for the time being and he could create problems for the parties when it comes to forming a new government," said Oleg Brega, an opposition activist.
Russia could also scupper any plans some Moldovan politicians may harbour about closer integration with the West.
Already unhappy about other former Soviet states such as Georgia embracing Western values it could view with askance any similar aspirations in Moldova.
