Supporters of the pro-Russian opposition bloc demonstrate in front of the Moldovan parliamentImage: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP

Not everyone in Moldova is happy with the results of Sunday's high-stakes election. On Monday afternoon, a few hundred supporters of the pro-Russian opposition bloc showed up to a planned demonstration outside Moldova's parliament in Chisinau.

"They falsified the results," one woman claimed. Others accused Moldovan authorities of trying to prevent people from voting, a claim echoed in Moscow. 

Members of the European Network of Election Monitoring Organisations said in a press conference on Monday that voting in Moldova was "competitive and offered citizens a clear choice" and commended officials' and citizens' "resilience."

However, observers raised some concerns about another issue that kept coming up at the opposition rally: a last-minute decision by Moldovan authorities to ban two small pro-Russian parties from running in Sunday's election over suspected illegal financing. 

Election observer Paula Cardoso said the timing limited the candidates' rights to "seek effective remedy" but noted that electoral authorities "otherwise managed technical preparations of these elections professionally and efficiently."

Outside the parliament, opposition leaders led the crowd in chants of "Moldova, Moldova, Moldova" and "Freedom." Then, en masse, the supporters all left and head off in the same direction.

Earlier on Monday, Moldovan police said they "had information" that some people had been promised cash to participate in the protest.