Șor, which has six MPs in the current parliament, is a pro-Russian conservative populist party that has been organizing fierce protests against the government’s attempts to integrate Moldova into the European Union (EU) and its failure to tackle the ongoing cost of living crisis in the country

On May 15, the head of the Moldovan parliament, Igor Grosu, announced the initiation of Moldova’s withdrawal from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a political and economic cooperation forum founded by the post-Soviet Republics

To distract attention from the economic and political crisis in the country, the incumbent Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) has appointed pro-Western economist Dorin Recean as the new prime minister of the country

The Moldovan left has called for a vote of no-confidence against the Party of Action and Solidarity government. Right-wing sections have been staging protests

After two years of political instability and crisis, Moldovans voted in a snap parliamentary election on Sunday, July 11, where the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) led by Igor Grosu won a majority and is set to form the new government

Among the eight candidates contesting the presidential polls in Moldova, pro-EU candidate Maia Sandu (36.1% votes) and incumbent pro-Russian president Igor Dodon (32.66% votes) qualified for the second round, scheduled for November 15