Moldova - Elections 2019
Moldova is one of the poorest and most corrupt countries in Europe and only recently recovered from a devastating banking scandal in 2014. The European Parliament has declared it "a state captured by oligarchic interests." But in 2019, it was through the mediation of the United States, the European Union and Russia that a coalition was created between the pro-Russian socialists and the pro-European right, which led to the fall of the regime of the oligarch Plahotniuc.
Since the 2014 parliamentary elections, the majority of parliamentary factions have significantly changed their composition. The 101-member parliament comprises 51 members from the governing parties (Democratic Party 42 and European People`s Party 9), and 44 members in opposition; the Party of Socialists (PSRM) 24, Liberal Party 9, Party of Communists (PCRM) 6, Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM) 5, and 6 non-aligned members (elected mostly on PLDM and PRCM lists).
The electoral legal framework primarily includes the Constitution, the Election Code and the Law on Political Parties, and is supplemented by other laws and Central Election Commission (CEC) regulations. In 2017, the Election Code underwent a series of significant amendments, including to introduce a mixed electoral system. Of the 101 MPs, 50 will be elected by proportional closed-lists in a single nationwide constituency, and 51 MPs in as many single-member constituencies. Other amendments focus on constituency delimitation and the funding of parties and electoral campaigns and additionally on the election administration, and voter and candidate registration.
The 2017 amendments were reviewed by ODIHR and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission). On certain issues, previous recommendations have been partially addressed, including on constituency delimitation, enhancing women’s participation, campaign finance contributions, and out-of-country voting. Many other recommendations on a range of issues remain to be addressed.
An ad hoc boundary commission was established to delineate majoritarian constituencies. The majority of representatives from opposition parties boycotted participation in the commission’s work due to not supporting the change of electoral system. A number of stakeholders alleged that many commission members were affiliated with the main governing party and raised concerns about criteria to establish constituencies, in particular, the two constituencies in Transniestria and three for citizens abroad, which were noted to challenge the principle of vote equality. The elections will be managed by a revised structure of election administration that includes the CEC, Constituency Electoral Councils (CoECs) and Precinct Electoral Bureaus.
Candidates can participate through closed party lists, in an electoral bloc, or in single-mandate constituencies either by party nomination or independently. New provisions require candidates to obtain an integrity certificate, which includes information on any legal constraints to stand as candidate or to hold public office and personal financial disclosure.
The lack of validation of the May 2018 Chisinau mayoral election by the courts following a complaint resulted in a series of protests against the ruling party and judiciary and more broadly diminished confidence in state institutions. The CEC established that election was won by Andrei Nastase in the second round. The law provides that elections are validated by a court. On 19 June 2018, the Chisinau City Court issued a judgment that the election could not be validated based on a complaint which alleged that Mr. Nastase received support from abroad and campaigned on election day. The Court’s decision was upheld by the Chisinau Court of Appeal on 21 June. Many interlocutors expected the events around the mayoral election to impact the conduct of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The media and advertisement markets are dominated by two holding companies affiliated with the two largest parties in parliament. The circumstances under which other media outlets struggle for financial sustainability could limit media pluralism and the independence of editorial policies and would likely limit the media coverage of contestants not affiliated with media owners. Media representatives noted the complexity of covering the upcoming elections and pointed to harassment of individual journalists, limitations to access information, including on candidate registration and campaign financing.
February 2019 - National Elections
Parliamentary elections took place 24 February 2019. The current political context is characterised by public distrust in state institutions amid ongoing corruption investigations and economic stagnation. The governing coalition continues to consolidate its influence by garnering support from an increasing number of members of parliament (MPs) from other factions and local government representatives. The recent lack of validation of the Chisinau mayoral election by the courts following a complaint resulted in a series of protests against the ruling party and judiciary and more broadly diminished confidence in state institutions. Many ODIHR NAM interlocutors expect the events around the mayoral election to impact the conduct of the upcoming parliamentary elections.
The campaign lasted from 30 days until the day before election day. Campaigns are financed from contestants` own funds and donations. Funding from foreign, state, public and anonymous sources and from non-profit and charitable organizations and trade unions is prohibited. Donations from out-of-country income remain prohibited.
Moldova's pro-Russian opposition Socialist party claimed a narrow lead, but no majority, in the country's national elections after ballots had been counted with 31.2 percent of the vote. The pro-European ACUM garnered 26.6 percent of Sunday's ballots and the incumbent Democratic Party was in third place at 23.8 precent.
President Igor Dodon, formerly the leader of the Socialist party, estimated that "risk is high that it could come to a snap election in the coming few months." In turn, Democratic Party leader, oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, said his faction was ready to launch coalition talks and "form a functioning government and parliamentary majority for the people."
The Socialist Party and pro-EU Democratic Party were fighting over Moldova's future. Dodon pledged to renegotiate a 2014 association agreement with the European Union if his party wins the vote. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, wants even closer ties to the bloc. The Democratic Party-led coalition government has, however, lost support following a string of corruption scandals. It has also been accused of trying to rig the political system in its favor by introducing votes on direct mandates alongside votes on party lists.
June 2019 - The Sandu Interlude
Elections held in February resulted in a hung parliament, leading to months of coalition negotiations. The February elections were certified on March 9, and analysts have assumed that the deadline for forming a new government was June 9. However, on June 7 the Constitutional Court ruled that the deadline was actually June 7, 90 days after the certification.
On June 7, the Constitutional Court ordered new elections be held under Moldovan law that requires a government be formed within three months of the certification of election results. But in an extraordinary parliamentary session on June 8, parliamentary leaders from Dodon's Socialist Party struck a deal with a pro-European bloc known as ACUM. The two groups, which together control 61 of parliament's 101 seats, agreed on a framework for political cooperation and approved a new government. The move was widely seen as a way to keep oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc and his Democratic Party out of power. The Democratic Party, which held 30 seats in parliament, slammed the deal, and appealed to the Constitutional Court, which then suspended Dodon and appointed Filip as interim president.
Both Sandu and the Socialists had their own motives for singling out Plahotniuc as their common enemy. Over the last couple of years, Plahotniuc had established a regime that was criminal to the core, and he shared responsibility for the "theft of the century," in the course of which more than €1 billion ($1.1 billion) were stolen from three Moldovan banks. Plahotniuc and some of his accomplices are now internationally wanted for arrest.
A real chance emerged to see changes for the first time since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Following the dramatic power struggle with oligarch Vlad Plahotniuc, who eventually fled the country, a new government came to power. It was headed by economist and pro-European reform politician Maia Sandu, who has a reputation for being radical and incorruptible. Sandu sought to establish Moldova's first real reform-oriented government.
Moldova plunged deeper into political crisis after the country's top court suspended President Igor Dodon and his appointed replacement dissolved parliament and called for snap elections. Thousands of people massed in the capital, Chisinau, on June 9 in support of Dodon's replacement, Pavel Filip, while Dodon slammed the court's decision and accused a rival political party, the Democratic Party -- backed by an influential tycoon -- of trying to cling to power.
Filip then dissolved parliament and ordered new elections to be held on September 6. Moldova's new government came about after the pro-European ACUM bloc agreed to form a coalition with the pro-Russia Socialist Party on June 8, pushing the ruling Democratic Party out of government. The pro-EU and pro-Moscow blocs managed to form a coalition government, in an apparent move to bring down an oligarchy led by the former ruling Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is led by the controversial tycoon Vladimir Plahotniuc, who many say has been ruling Moldova from the shadows.
Moldovan President Igor Dodon on 11 June 2019 called off snap elections as a political crisis in the ex-Soviet state lingered. Dodon told reporters that he had cancelled newly-appointed interim president Pavel Filip's decree on dissolving the parliament and calling snap elections on Sept. 6 as the move was unconstitutional.
Two rival governments, each declaring itself legitimate, held separate meetings in Moldova 10 June 2019. Filip's ministers gathered in the government building, which was blocked off by riot police and PDM supporters. Russia threw its support behind a new ruling coalition between the Moscow-friendly Socialist Party and a pro-European Union bloc. Five EU member states -- France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, and Great Britain -- issued a joint statement saying that Moldova's parliament was the "best place to discuss all political issues."
All six judges at Moldova’s Constitutional Court stepped down amid calls for their resignation following decisions made by the court that fueled a political crisis in the ex-Soviet country. The court made the announcement in a statement on June 26, adding that the competent authorities will be notified in order to appoint new judges."
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale congratulated Moldova's new prime minister, Maia Sandu, and expressed U.S. support for her government during a July 13 meeting in the Moldovan capital. Hale reaffirmed U.S. support for democracy in Moldova and endorsed the new government's priorities of combating corruption and money laundering, reforming the banking sector, and promoting energy security. Sandu emphasized that Moldova needs "today, more than ever, U.S. support."
At the invitation of the authorities of the Republic of Moldova, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, on 20 October 2019, deployed 11 teams of 24 observers from 21 European countries to observe the local elections around 180 polling stations across the country. "Generally, the elections were organised by well-prepared committees, the voting was conducted in an orderly manner and the counting was done in a professional manner," said Vladimir PREBILIC (Slovenia, SOC), Head of the Congress delegation, at a press conference today in Chisinau. The Head of the Congress delegation expressed his concern about the registration requirements for independent candidates which are overly cumbersome compared to the situation of candidates from political parties. " The minimum requirement with regard to the collection of signatures for an independent mayoral candidate is 5% compared to the 1% of voters in the constituency concerned, as recommended by the Venice Commission. The authorities of Moldova should amend the relevant provisions," he explained.
The extremely heterogeneous and internally divided ACUM bloc, which developed in 2014-5 out of a civilian protest movement and had never governed before, displayed a lack of experience and planning, amateurism and even naivety in its actions. The ACUM, instead of striking while the iron was hot and immediately implementing radical "shock" reforms to bolster the rule of law and revamp administrative procedures, hesitated, made strategic mistakes in its appointments and failed to stand up to the Socialists.
November 2019 - The Oligarch Returns
Supporters of Prime Minister Maia Sandu rallied outside the Moldovan parliament in the capital, Chisinau, as her pro-Western government lost a no-confidence motion. Sandu's short-lived government came to power in June after her pro-European ACUM alliance formed an uneasy coalition with the Russian-aligned Moldovan Socialist Party (PSRM). Sandu represents the anti-corruption alliance ACUM (Party of Action and Solidarity), which advocates close ties to the EU. The Socialists emanated from the post-Soviet political establishment. They belong to the country's kleptocracy and cultivate close ties to Russia, although they're not unconditionally loyal to the Kremlin.
People chanted messages such as "We are the people!" and "We're not going to give in!" as the motion was heard in the parliamentary chamber on 12 November 2019. Sandu's coalition government was brought down after losing a no-confidence vote. Her coalition partners, the Socialists, withdrew their support. Officially, the partners had differences over who should have the power to nominate a prosecutor general. Sandu wanted an independent candidate who would crack down on corruption and organized crime. But she was unable to push this through against resistance from the old cliques, including the Socialists, who insisted that not the prime minister but a Justice Ministry commission should take the decision on the appointment.
Moldovan President Igor Dodon nominated one of his advisers to be the country’s next prime minister, a day after pro-Western Prime Minister Maia Sandu's cabinet lost a confidence vote. Speaking late on November 13 following consultations with parliamentary factions, Dodon said he had asked former Finance Minister Ion Chicu to form a government. He described Chicu as “a technocrat, a professional who has not been in any political party." The 47-year-old, who until five months ago served as finance minister, now has 15 days to form a cabinet that would then need the approval of lawmakers. Some 62 lawmakers out of 101 voted in favor of the new government on 14 November 2019. More than half of the new government's members are former advisers of the pro-Russian Dodon, and some of them held ministerial positions in the government led by the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM).
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