Politics

Moldova is a unitary parlamentary representative democratic republic divided in 32 raions, the apostet province Transnistria and the autonomous territorial unit Gagauzia. The Constitution of Moldova was adopted in 1994, in order to amend the constitution, a parliamentary majority of at least two thirds is required.

The country’s central legislative body is the unicameral Moldovan parliament, which has 101 seats, and whose members are elected by popular vote every four years. The head of the state is the president, who is elected by Parliament for a four-year term (eligible for a second term), requiring the support of three fifths of deputies (at least 61 votes). The president appoints a prime minister who is the head of government. The Constitution also establishes an independent Constitutional Court, which has the power of judical review over all acts of parliaments, presidential decrees and international treaties.

The year 2009 was a very turbulent year in the young history of the Republic of Moldova. After the Communist’s landslide victory in the April’s election, the opposition and several NGO leaders rejected the results and accused the authoristies of falsification. In the following protests, rioters charged the Molodvan Parliament and the Presidency, looted it and set fire. After a recount of the votes, the Communists and the opposition could in two attempts not agree on a president which caused re-elections in July 2009. The winner of this election was the Alliance for European Integration, a four party coalition. Neither the Communists nor the Alliance for European Integration combined has the three-fifths of parliament, 61 seats, necessary to elect a new president without gaining the support of some members of the other side. The acting president of the Republic of Moldova was Mihai Ghimpu (Partidul Liberal) until the re-re-elections in September 2010

Again the strongest party in the Republic of Moldova became the Party of Communists, although the Alliance for European Integration, a coalition of the Liberal Democratic Party, the Liberal Party, the Democratic Party and the Our Moldova Alliance, received more votes even though not enough for the 61 seats to elect the president. The acting president of the state is Marian Lupu (Partidul Democrat din Moldova) since 30 December 2010. Other parties are the Christian-Democratic People’s Party, the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party, the Social Political Movement MAE and the Ecological Party.

International Organisations in Moldova:
ACCT, BSEC, CE, CEI, CIS, EAEC (observer), EAPC, EBRD, FAO, GCTU, GUAM, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITU, ITUC, MIGA, OIF, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO