March 4 (SeeNews) - Moldova's opposition pro-Russian Socialist Party (PSRM) won the highest number of seats in Moldova's parliament, 35, in the general election held on February 24, but fell short of absolute majority, final official results showed.
PSRM is followed by the incumbent Democratic Party (PDM) led by Vlad Plahotniuc, which won 30 mandates, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) said in a press release issued on Sunday.
The ACUM alliance formed by the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) led by Maia Sandu and the Dignity and Truth Platform (PPDA) of Andrei Nastase came third with 26 seats.
The fourth party which exceeded the 6% threshold to enter the 101-seat parliament is Sor Party, led by businessman Ilan Sor, with seven seats.
The three remaining mandates will be taken by independent MPs.
Voter turnout was 49%, lower than 56% registered in the previous general election, held in 2014. The February 24 vote was held under a new mixed system introduced in 2017 - 50 MPs will be elected on party lists and the remaining 51 will be elected in individual constituencies.
On February 24, Moldova also held a referendum asking voters to decide if they want to reduce number of MPs in parliament to 61 from 101. A total of 744,529 of 1.14 million voters said 'yes'.
CEC will now send the final results of both the general election and the referendum to the Constitutional Court to confirm or deny their legitimacy.