"The PAS government is afraid of the strong team of socialists in Gagauzia." Igor Dodon sees the "hand of PAS" behind the TikTok accounts that promote his own candidate. The PSRM leader accuses a "provocation" to eliminate Fiodor Gagauz from the race

Socialist Igor Dodon accuses PAS of paving the way for the exclusion of the Socialist candidate, Fiodor Gagauz, from the elections for the position of mayor, after a WatchDog analysis identified a network of at least 20 anonymous TikTok accounts promoting him. Some of the profiles were created on October 16, the day Gagauz's campaign was launched, and in six days they accumulated over 145 thousand views. PSRM denies any connection with the network and has notified the Central Electoral Commission, while the party's candidate has filed a complaint with the Police. So far, the public information consulted does not prove Dodon's claim that PAS is behind the accounts. Fiodor Gagauz is officially registered in the race for the position of mayor, and the elections are scheduled for November 15.

In a Facebook post, Dodon claims that the anonymous promotion of the PSRM candidate would, in fact, be an operation intended to later provide a reason for his elimination from the race.

"PAS is preparing the ground for the exclusion of PSRM candidate Fiodor Gagauz from the race for the position of Mayor of Gagauzia. Through a network of anonymous TikTok accounts, the appearance of illegal electoral campaigning by our candidate is artificially created. In parallel, false information and materials are being spread aimed at discrediting him. It is an obvious attempt to provoke a scandal, so that it can later be used as a pretext for excluding Fiodor Gagauz from the electoral race. We qualify these actions as a premeditated provocation. The PAS government is afraid of the strong team of socialists in Gagauzia", the socialist wrote on his Facebook page.

Dodon states that the PSRM officially informed the electoral authority about the situation and insists that the party did not finance or coordinate the activity of the respective accounts. The information regarding the CEC's notification is confirmed by public reports, and Gagauz announced separately that it had contacted the Police.

"PSRM has officially notified the Central Electoral Commission that it has no connection with these accounts and that it did not finance or coordinate their activity. The candidate himself has already addressed the law enforcement agencies, requesting the identification of the organizers of this challenge. We appeal to international observers, including representatives of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR/OSCE), to urgently draw attention to what happened, to carefully monitor the situation and not to allow political pressure to be exerted on the PSRM candidate", he added.

The PSRM leader accuses the government of a possible use of administrative resources against the party's candidate.

"Gagauzia must choose its own Bashkan! Elections must not be transformed into an instrument of squabbling with inconvenient candidates. We will not allow administrative resources and provocations to substitute the will of the people!", Dodon concluded in his message.