Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova
Encyclopedia
The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova is a communist political party
in Moldova
, led by Vladimir Voronin
. It is the only communist party to have held a majority in government in the post-Soviet states
.
It is part of the Party of the European Left
. Perhaps confusingly, its foreign policy tilt is pro-EU and pro-US, rather than pro-Russia like the similarly communist government in Transnistria
.
in Moldova
. After the July 2009 parliamentary election
, Alliance For European Integration
has agreed to create a governing coalition that pushed the Communist party into opposition.
, in which Voronin stood as the coalition's candidate and won 10.3% of the vote, placing third. The party supported Petru Lucinschi
in the second round of the election, and following Lucinschi's victory the PCRM was given two positions in the government.
, the PCRM won 30.1% of the vote and 40 seats, becoming the largest party in parliament; in its platform, it called for "the rebirth of a socialist society". Despite its strong showing, the PCRM was left in opposition due to the formation of a center-right coalition government, Alliance for Democracy and Reforms
. Although Lucinschi later nominated Voronin
as Prime Minister of Moldova
in late 1999, the nomination was unsuccessful because Voronin did not have enough support in parliament. Subsequently the PCRM received 49.9% of the vote in the February 2001 parliamentary election
, winning 71 out of the 101 seats in parliament.
was elected as President by parliament in April 2001. The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re-elected as party leader.
. It won the Moldovan parliamentary election, 2005, and provided the President, Vladimir Voronin
, the Prime Minister, Zinaida Greceanîi
, and the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament
, Marian Lupu
. Under Voronin
, it privatized several state-owned industries and governed in a multi-party fashion. It also favors European integration
and eventual EU membership.
, the climate in Moldova became very polarized. The parliament
failed to elect a new president
. For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and snap elections
were held. At the July 29 polls
the Communist Party received 44.7% of the vote. That gave the former ruling party 48 MPs, and the remaining 53 seats in the 101-member chamber went to four opposition parties, Alliance For European Integration
.
The activity of the Party of Communists between 2001 and 2009 will not be covered by the Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova
only if it is proven that it perpetuates some practices of the former Communist Party of Moldova
. The commission will study and analyse the communist regime from 1917 to 1991.
While officially espousing a Leninist Communist doctrine, there is debate over their policies. The Economist
considers it a centre-right party, communist only in name, whereas Romanian political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu
argues that the party is communist in the classical sense, as it has not changed much since the fall of the Soviet Union
. However, Romanian and foreign observers usually are misled by the name of the party, because the Moldovan Communists are far from their cognate parties and certainly different from their Russian counterparts, which are indeed unreformed. Ion Marandici, a Moldovan political scientist considers that the success story of the Moldovan Communists is mainly due to the Communists' capacity to attract the votes of the ethnic minorities and the Romanian-speakers identifying as Moldovans, by proposing a Moldovenist nation and state-project. Also the Communists' control of the major electronic media, the authoritarian practices regarding human rights activists, the support of the West in April 2005 helped their consolidation. The incapacity of the opposition to unite is due mainly to the specific electoral rules providing incentives for the emergence and creation of new parties. The decline of the Communists followed after Marian Lupu, a keyfigure in the Moldovan politics left the Communists' Party and joined the Democratic Party, thus bringing with him the Moldovan supporters of the Communists.
The whole electoral program can be read on the official site of PCRM.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
, led by Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
. It is the only communist party to have held a majority in government in the post-Soviet states
Post-Soviet states
The post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
.
It is part of the Party of the European Left
Party of the European Left
The Party of the European Left, commonly abbreviated to just the European Left, is a political party at European level and an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed in January 2004 for the purposes of...
. Perhaps confusingly, its foreign policy tilt is pro-EU and pro-US, rather than pro-Russia like the similarly communist government in Transnistria
Transnistria
Transnistria is a breakaway territory located mostly on a strip of land between the Dniester River and the eastern Moldovan border to Ukraine...
.
Activity
It is the current opposition political partyOpposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
in Moldova
Moldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. After the July 2009 parliamentary election
Moldovan parliamentary election, July 2009
- Pre-election developments :The country's parliament, elected months earlier, was dissolved by president Vladimir Voronin on 15 June 2009, after it had twice failed to elect a new president....
, Alliance For European Integration
Alliance for European Integration
The Alliance for European Integration is the ruling coalition in Moldova since the July 2009 election.-Overall context :After April 2009 election and the civil unrest, the climate in Moldova became very polarised. The parliament failed to elect a new president. For this reason, the parliament was...
has agreed to create a governing coalition that pushed the Communist party into opposition.
History
The PCRM was registered as a political party in 1994. The PCRM was part of the Popular Patriotic Forces Front at the time of the 1996 presidential electionMoldovan presidential election, 1996
The first round of 1996 Moldovan presidential elections was held in Moldova on 17 November and a run-off round between Petru Lucinschi and Mircea Snegur was held on 1 December 1996.- Results :-References:...
, in which Voronin stood as the coalition's candidate and won 10.3% of the vote, placing third. The party supported Petru Lucinschi
Petru Lucinschi
Petru Chiril Lucinschi was Moldova's second President .- Biography :Petru Chiril Lucinschi was born on January 27, 1940 in Rădulenii Vechi village, Soroca County, Romania...
in the second round of the election, and following Lucinschi's victory the PCRM was given two positions in the government.
1998 election
In the March 1998 parliamentary electionMoldovan parliamentary election, 1998
A parliamentary election took place in Moldova on March 22, 1998.- Results :At the legislative elections on March 22, 1998, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which was re-legalized in 1994 after being banned in 1991, gained 40 of the 101 places in the Moldovan Parliament,Seats...
, the PCRM won 30.1% of the vote and 40 seats, becoming the largest party in parliament; in its platform, it called for "the rebirth of a socialist society". Despite its strong showing, the PCRM was left in opposition due to the formation of a center-right coalition government, Alliance for Democracy and Reforms
Alliance for Democracy and Reforms
The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms was a governing coalition, between numerous non-Communist parties, which had the absolute majority in the Moldovan Parliament after the 1998 parliamentary election.- The overall context :...
. Although Lucinschi later nominated Voronin
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
as Prime Minister of Moldova
Prime Minister of Moldova
The Prime Minister of Moldova is Moldova's head of government. The prime minister is formally appointed by the President and exercises executive power along with the cabinet subject to parliamentary support.-Moldavian Democratic Republic :...
in late 1999, the nomination was unsuccessful because Voronin did not have enough support in parliament. Subsequently the PCRM received 49.9% of the vote in the February 2001 parliamentary election
Moldovan parliamentary election, 2001
Moldovan early parliamentary elections took place on February 25, 2001. Turnout was 67.52 percent.-Election outcome:The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova won the election. Vladimir Voronin was elected president shortly thereafter by the newly elected parliament-Sources:*...
, winning 71 out of the 101 seats in parliament.
2001 election
With a PCRM parliamentary majority, VoroninVladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
was elected as President by parliament in April 2001. The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re-elected as party leader.
2005 election
It was the ruling political party in MoldovaMoldova
Moldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
. It won the Moldovan parliamentary election, 2005, and provided the President, Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
, the Prime Minister, Zinaida Greceanîi
Zinaida Greceanîi
Zinaida Greceanîi is a Moldovan politician. She is a member of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova and was the Prime Minister of Moldova between 31 March 2008 and 14 September 2009...
, and the Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament
Speaker of the Moldovan Parliament
-Moldovan Democratic Republic:-Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic:-Moldavian SSR:The Chairmen of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR were:-Speakers of Moldovan Parliament:...
, Marian Lupu
Marian Lupu
Marian Lupu is a Moldovan politician and is President of Parliament and Acting President since 2010.-Background and education:...
. Under Voronin
Vladimir Voronin
Vladimir Nicolaevici Voronin is a Moldovan politician. He was the third President of Moldova from 2001 until 2009 and has been the First Secretary of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova since 1994...
, it privatized several state-owned industries and governed in a multi-party fashion. It also favors European integration
Moldova and the European Union
Relations between Moldova and the European Union are currently shaped via the European Neighbourhood Policy , a foreign policy instrument of the EU designed for the countries it borders....
and eventual EU membership.
2009 elections
After April 2009 election and the civil unrest2009 Moldova civil unrest
The 2009 civil unrest in Moldova began on April 7, 2009, in major cities of Moldova before the results of the 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election were announced...
, the climate in Moldova became very polarized. The parliament
Parliament of the Republic of Moldova
The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova is a unicameral assembly with 101 seats. Its members are elected by popular vote every 4 years. The parliament then elects a president, who functions as the head of state...
failed to elect a new president
Moldovan presidential election, May–June 2009
An indirect presidential election was held in Moldova following the April 2009 parliamentary election.- Overview :The incumbent president, Vladimir Voronin, is term-limited and was elected to become speaker of the Parliament of Moldova in early May 2009; the ruling Party of Communists of the...
. For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and snap elections
Moldovan parliamentary election, July 2009
- Pre-election developments :The country's parliament, elected months earlier, was dissolved by president Vladimir Voronin on 15 June 2009, after it had twice failed to elect a new president....
were held. At the July 29 polls
Moldovan parliamentary election, July 2009
- Pre-election developments :The country's parliament, elected months earlier, was dissolved by president Vladimir Voronin on 15 June 2009, after it had twice failed to elect a new president....
the Communist Party received 44.7% of the vote. That gave the former ruling party 48 MPs, and the remaining 53 seats in the 101-member chamber went to four opposition parties, Alliance For European Integration
Alliance for European Integration
The Alliance for European Integration is the ruling coalition in Moldova since the July 2009 election.-Overall context :After April 2009 election and the civil unrest, the climate in Moldova became very polarised. The parliament failed to elect a new president. For this reason, the parliament was...
.
The activity of the Party of Communists between 2001 and 2009 will not be covered by the Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova
Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova
The Commission for the Study and Evaluation of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of the Republic of Moldova is a commission instituted in Moldova by acting President Mihai Ghimpu to investigate the Communist regime and provide a comprehensive report allowing for the condemnation of Communism as...
only if it is proven that it perpetuates some practices of the former Communist Party of Moldova
Communist Party of Moldova
The Communist Party of Moldova was one of the fourteen republic-level parties that formed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Indeed, the PCM was the republic-level chapter of the CPSU in the Moldavian SSR from 1940 to 1991...
. The commission will study and analyse the communist regime from 1917 to 1991.
Ideology
According to its Statute adopted in 2008, article 1, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova is a "lawful successor and heir of the Communist Party of [Soviet] Moldavia both in terms of ideas and traditions".While officially espousing a Leninist Communist doctrine, there is debate over their policies. The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
considers it a centre-right party, communist only in name, whereas Romanian political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu
Vladimir Tismaneanu
Vladimir Tismăneanu is a Romanian and American political scientist, political analyst, sociologist, and professor at the University of Maryland, College Park...
argues that the party is communist in the classical sense, as it has not changed much since the fall of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. However, Romanian and foreign observers usually are misled by the name of the party, because the Moldovan Communists are far from their cognate parties and certainly different from their Russian counterparts, which are indeed unreformed. Ion Marandici, a Moldovan political scientist considers that the success story of the Moldovan Communists is mainly due to the Communists' capacity to attract the votes of the ethnic minorities and the Romanian-speakers identifying as Moldovans, by proposing a Moldovenist nation and state-project. Also the Communists' control of the major electronic media, the authoritarian practices regarding human rights activists, the support of the West in April 2005 helped their consolidation. The incapacity of the opposition to unite is due mainly to the specific electoral rules providing incentives for the emergence and creation of new parties. The decline of the Communists followed after Marian Lupu, a keyfigure in the Moldovan politics left the Communists' Party and joined the Democratic Party, thus bringing with him the Moldovan supporters of the Communists.
Last proposed electoral program
For the current period of governance, the PCRM has outlined the following goals for the country:- A new quality of life;
- Economic modernisation;
- European integration;
- Consolidation of the society.
The whole electoral program can be read on the official site of PCRM.
Electoral results
| Results since 1998 (year links to election page) |
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| Polls Elections in Moldova Elections in Moldova gives information on election and election results in Moldova.Moldova elects on national level a legislature. The Parliament has 101 members, elected for a four year term by proportional representation with a 5% electoral threshold... |
Type of Election | Votes | % | MPs | ||||
| 1998 Moldovan parliamentary election, 1998 A parliamentary election took place in Moldova on March 22, 1998.- Results :At the legislative elections on March 22, 1998, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which was re-legalized in 1994 after being banned in 1991, gained 40 of the 101 places in the Moldovan Parliament,Seats... |
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| 2001 Moldovan parliamentary election, 2001 Moldovan early parliamentary elections took place on February 25, 2001. Turnout was 67.52 percent.-Election outcome:The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova won the election. Vladimir Voronin was elected president shortly thereafter by the newly elected parliament-Sources:*... |
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| 2009 (July) Moldovan parliamentary election, July 2009 - Pre-election developments :The country's parliament, elected months earlier, was dissolved by president Vladimir Voronin on 15 June 2009, after it had twice failed to elect a new president.... |
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| 2010 Moldovan parliamentary election, 2010 A parliamentary election was held in Moldova on 28 November 2010 after indirect presidential elections failed for the second time in late 2009.-Pre-election developments:... |
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