Moldova's acting president on Tuesday called a snap general election for November 28, setting the scene for a fractious campaign between pro-Western rulers and opposition communists in one of Europe's poorest states. Mihai Ghimpu, acting head of state and a leading light in the four-party coalition which has run the small ex-Soviet republic since mid-2009, signed a decree in front of journalists dissolving parliament and setting the election date.
The election will be the latest attempt by the country of 3.5 million, where Russia and European Union member Romania vie for influence, to end a political impasse that has left Moldova without a full-time president to push through reform.