Politics

The politics of Moldova takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The position of the break-away republic of Transnistria, relations with Romania and integration into the EU dominate the political agenda.

Executive Branch

The president is elected by the Parliament for a four-year term. According to the Moldovan constitution, the president, on consulting with the parliament, will designate a candidate for the office of prime minister; within 15 days from designation, the prime minister-designate will request a vote of confidence from the parliament regarding their work program and entire cabinet. The cabinet is selected by prime minister-designate, subject to approval of parliament.

Legislative Branch

The Parliament (Parlamentul) has 101 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation. The president is elected for a four year term by parliament.

Judicial Branch

Supreme Court; Constitutional Court is the sole authority of constitutional judicature.

Political Developments since Independence

Mircea Snegur was elected president of Moldova in October 1990 by the Parliament. A former Communist Party official, he endorsed independence and actively sought Western recognition. Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union in August 1991. However, Snegur's opposition to immediate reunification with Romania led to a split with the Moldovan Popular Front in October 1991 and to his decision to run as an independent candidate in a December 1991 presidential election. Running unopposed, he won after the Popular Front's efforts to organise a voter boycott failed.

Moldova's transition to democracy initially had been impeded by an ineffective Parliament, the lack of a new constitution, a separatist movement led by the Gagauz (Christian Turkic) minority in the south, and unrest in the Transnistria region on the left bank of the Dniester river, where a separatist movement assisted by uniformed Russian military forces in the region and led by supporters of the 1991 coup attempt in Moscow declared a "Dniester republic."

Progress has been made on all these fronts. In 1992, the government negotiated a cease-fire arrangement with Russian and Transnistrian officials (although tensions continue) and negotiations are ongoing. In February 1994, new legislative elections were held, and the ineffective Parliament that had been elected in 1990 to a 5-year term was replaced. A new constitution was adopted in July 1994. The conflict with the Gagauz minority was defused by the granting of local autonomy in 1994.

The February 1994 Parliamentary elections were conducted peacefully and received good ratings from international observers for their fairness. Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli was re-elected to his post in March 1994, as was Petru Lucinschi to his post as speaker of the Parliament. Authorities in Transnistria, refused to allow balloting there and discouraged the local population from participating. Inhabitants of the Gagauz separatist region did participate in the elections, however.

In the presidential elections of 1996, parliamentary speaker Petru Lucinschi surprised the nation with an upset victory over the incumbent, Mircea Snegur, in a second round of balloting. The elections were judged as free and fair by international observers.

Although President Lucinschi managed to institute some very important reforms - among them the successful introduction of the "Pamînt" land privatization program - his tenure was marked by constant legislative struggle with Moldova's Parliament. Several times, the Parliament considered votes of no confidence in the president's government, and a succession of moderate, pro-reform prime ministers were dismissed by a Parliament increasingly dominated by its single-minded Communist Party faction.

In 2000, the Parliament passed a decree declaring Moldova a parliamentary republic, with the presidency henceforth to be decided not by popular vote, but by parliamentary vote. However, since no single candidate was able to garner a majority of votes, Lucinschi temporarily remained president. Later that year, when Parliament failed three times to successfully elect a new president, Lucinschi exercised his right to dissolve Parliament, calling for new parliamentary elections in the hope that a new Parliament would be more open to his initiatives - and, possibly, even rescind the decree on election of the president.

Widespread popular dissatisfaction with the government and the economy, however, led to a surprise at the polls in February 2001. In elections certified by international observers as free and fair, Moldova's populace voted overwhelmingly for the communists. The communist faction, which had previously occupied 40 of the Parliament's 101 seats, jumped to 71 - a clear majority. Communist deputies were then able to elect Vladimir Voronin, the leader of their faction, as President.

Since his election, President Voronin has proceeded with Lucinschi's plans to privatize several important state-owned industries, and even has on occasion broken with his own party over important issues. However, under President Voronin, relations with Romania had worsened. Tensions arose, when the President continued to maintain a separate Moldovan identity from that of Romania. The Romanian language in Moldova has come to be called "Moldovan", when in fact it is almost the same as Romanian.

A union between Moldova and Romania appears to decrease in likelihood as nationalist sentiments continue to erode.

Foreign Relations

The government has stated that Moldova has European aspirations but there has been little progress toward EU membership. On May 1, 2004 many EU enthusiasts waving the EU flags found their flags confiscated by police and some were arrested under the clause of "anti-nationalism". During her first bilateral visit to Moldova, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero-Waldner opened the new Delegation of the European Commission to Moldova on 6 October, to be headed by Cesare De Montis. A Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with EU is the legal basis for EU relations with Moldova. The PCA came into force in July 1998 for an initial period of ten years. It establishes the institutional framework for bilateral relations, sets the principal common objectives, and calls for activities and dialogue in a number of policy areas. Moldova welcomed EU enlargement and signed on 30 April 2004 the protocol extending the PCA to the new EU member states. With the joint adoption of the EU-Moldova Action Plan on February 22, 2005, the EU and Moldova have further reinforced their bilateral relationship, providing a new tool to help implement the PCA and bring Moldova closer to the EU. The TACIS programme is used as the framework for technical assistance to support agreed objectives.

Human Rights

Critics accuse the government of Moldova of having a poor human rights record, accusing it of interference with political freedom and of arbitrary arrest and torture.

The United States Senate has held committee hearings on irregularities that marred elections in Moldova, including the arrest and harassment of opposition candidates, intimidation and suppression of independent media, and state run media bias in favour of candidates backed by the Moldovan Government.

State media coverage of the street protests in 2002 regarding the communists' attempt to reinstate obligatory study of the Russian language and to defend the cultural identity that the majority of Moldovans share with neighbouring Romania was censored. In February 2002, in response to severe censorship of the state broadcaster Teleradio-Moldova (TVM), hundreds of TVM journalists went on strike in solidarity with the anti-communist opposition. In retribution, a few journalists and staff members were dismissed or suspended from the station in March.

However, in 2004 an improvement was made and the Moldovan Parliament removed Article 170 from the country's Criminal Code. Article 170 called for up to five years imprisonment for defamation.

According to the OSCE, the media climate in Moldova is restrictive. Authorities continue a long-standing campaign to silence independent opposition voices and movements. In a case widely criticized by human rights defenders, opposition politician Valeriu Pasat was sentenced to a 10 year prison term. The United States and human rights defenders from the European Union consider him a political prisoner, and an official statement from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the judgment "striking in its cruelty".