Political differences between Transnistria

and Republic of Moldova.

Loredana Gamurari.Parties and Party system in Europe.

Republic of Moldova:

• a country in Eastern Europe• independent since 1991• a part of its territory is under

the illegal regime of Transnistria

• an example of “procedural democracy”

Transnistria:• a breakaway state located mostly on a

strip of land between the River Dniester and the eastern Moldovan border with Ukraine

• governed as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic

• unrecognised by any United Nations member state

• recognized as sovereign entity only by the partially recognised states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

The Republic of Moldova• is a unitary parliamentary representative democratic republic• the central legislative body is the unicameral Parliament of

Moldova, whose members are elected by popular vote on party lists

• the head of the state is the President of Moldova, elected by the Parliament

• the President appoints a prime minister who functions as the head of government, and who in turn assembles a cabinet, both subject to parliamentary approval

Transnistria

• Transnistria is headed by a president• They are served by a cabinet of ministers, which is headed by

the Prime Minister;• Transnistria uses a semi-presidential system, where the

president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government.

• has a multi-party system • an unicameral parliament named the Supreme Council.

Comparison between Moldova’s and Transnistria’s political

system:

• Transnistria has a strongly centralized political system, the president is the head of government and has the right to appoint the heads of local (rayonal) administrations

• in Moldova the prime minister, elected by the parliament, is the head of government and the heads of rayonal administrations are established by the rayonal councils resulted from local elections.

• in Transnistria, the president is elected directly • in Moldova the president is elected by the parliament; the political

structure of Moldova is a parliamentary republic.

The Party system of the Republic of Moldova

• With over 35 registered parties, there are only 5 parties presented in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova;

• Since 2009 the country is gonverned by coalitions with no clear leader to assume the act of governing;

• In the period 2001 – 2009 the country was governed by the Communists‘ Party, that proclaims it to be the lawful heir of the Communist Party of the USSR, in fact being a moderate leftist party, centered around the figure of their leader, Vladimir Voronin

Leader: Igor DodonConstituted 6th of August, 1997Number of seats in Parliament

25 mandates

Political doctrine Leftist

Geopolitical orientation Pro-Russian

Narrative The Socialists’ Party is ruled by a former Communists’ Party leader Igor Dodon, that has left

the party and voted for the pro-European President, Nicolae Timofti. Since then the

orientation of the party has changed and is overtly pro-Russian. The main slogans and images used in the campaign were pro-Russian and featuring the

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Leader: Vlad FilatConstituted 25th of January, 2008Number of seats in Parliament

23 mandates

Political doctrine Conservative

Geopolitical orientation Pro-European

Narrative The Liberal Democrat Party of Moldova was created by a group of deputies coming from the Democrat Party, as well

as representatives of civil society and has been the biggest component of the pro-European coalitions that have been in power since 2009. The Prime-ministers

representing this party have been crucial for the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU. After several internal conflicts, the popularity of the party has been

steadily declining. It is rumored that one of the leaders of the party, the ex-Prime-minister, Iurie Leanca will leave

the party. This being a serious blow for it. Together with the

Democrat Party, it has proposed a minority Government (Gaburici Government) that has been also voted by the

Communists’ Party of Moldova.

Leader: Vladimir VoroninConstituted 27th of April, 1994Number of seats in Parliament

20 mandates

Political doctrine Social-Democracy

Geopolitical orientation Mixed

Narrative The Communists’ Party has been unilaterally governing the Republic of Moldova in the period 2001 – 2009. In this period, the official orientation of the party has changed several times from pro-Russian to pro-European and has gone from social reforms to liberal ones. The period of

dominance of the PCRM is characterized by the worsening situation of the freedom of press and implication of the

state in the economy. In the recent period, the party has known a drastic reduction in popularity which resulted in a

decreased presence in the Parliament and has voted a minority Government formed by the Liberal Democrat

Party and Democratic Party.

Leader: Marian LupuConstituted 25th of March, 1997Number of seats in Parliament

19 mandates

Political doctrine Social-Democracy

Geopolitical orientation Pro-European

Narrative The Democrat Party has been a recurring presence in the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and a stable

member of the governing coalitions of the Republic of Moldova. Its’ main traits as a party are that it insists on

“good strategic relations with the Russian Federation” and the reality of the Moldovan Language, as opposed to Romanian. Its’ popularity has been affected by the

presence of Vlad Plahotniuc, a shady businessman and the first vice – President of the party.

Leader: Mihai GhimpuConstituted 28th of September, 1993Number of seats in Parliament

13 mandates

Political doctrine Liberalism

Geopolitical orientation Pro-European

Narrative The Liberal Party has a strategic objective to reunite the Republic of Moldova with Romania. It is focused on

linguistic and historic problems and has been openly against the Russian involvement in the Moldovan politics. It has been presented in the first two governing coalitions,

but due to personal quarrels with the other two parties members of the coalitions (PLDM and PD) it has been

excluded from it. In the third edition of the coalition it has been replaced by a group of deputies that left the party

forming the Liberal Reformist Party, and in the forth alliance its former partners formed a minority coalition.

Conclusions on the Moldovan Party System• The Republic of Moldova has reached the level

of an “election democracy”, where the people can change the power-holders, but have little, if any control, over the parties in power;

• The parties in the Republic of Moldova do not focus on their doctrines, but more on the popularity of their leaders and their geopolitical options;

• There is a tendency to install a quasi – authoritarian regime, as the people are inclined to vote for stronger leaders, regardless of their democratic views.

Transnistria has a multi-party system.There is disagreement as to whether elections in Transnistria are free and fair. The list of parties which are either represented in parliament, have launched candidates for parliamentary elections, or have indicated their intentions to do so:

• Renewal (Obnovleniye) - also known in English as Renovation - registered in 2006

• Republic (Republica) - registered in 2007• Patriotic Party of Pridnestrovie (Partidul Patriotic) - registered in 2006• People's Will of Pridnestrovie (Voinţă Populară)[1] - registered in 2006• Fair Republic (Doar Republica) - founded on 3 July 2007• Breakthrough (Proriv) - registered in 2006• Liberal Democratic Party of Pridnestrovie (Partidul Liberal Democrat) -

registered in 2006• Communist Party of Pridnestrovie (PCP-PCUS)• Pridnestrovie Communist Party (PCP)• Social Democratic Party of Pridnestrovie (Partidul Social Democrat)[2] -

registered in 2007

Leader: Andrei SipchenkoPolitical doctrine Leftist (pro-Pre)Geopolitical orientation

Pro-Russian

Narrative

The party supports the president of the transnistrian moldavian republic, Evghenii Shevchuk and represents the official group accepted by the Russian Federation to rule

transnistria

Leader: Mihail BurlaConstituted 24th of August, 2000Number of seats in Supreme Soviet

19 mandates

Political doctrine Leftist (pro-Supreme Soviet)

Geopolitical orientation Pro-Russian

NarrativeThe party is openly against the president of the

transnistrian moldavian republic, Evghenii Shevchuk and supports the ex-Supreme Soviet’s speaker Anatoli

Kaminski, Mihail Burla succeeding him on this post. It is said to represent the interests of the group of companies

called Sheriff.

Leader: Oleg HorjanConstituted 20th of April, 2003Number of seats in Supreme Soviet

--------Political doctrine Leftist (opposition)Geopolitical orientation

Pro-Russian

Narrative

The party is in opposition to the existing regime and uses the soviet nostalgia in

order to build a pool of supporters.

Conclusions on the party system of transnistria

• The party system of transnistria is faking democratic processes in order to show the international community it is based on them;

• The lack of doctrinal differences shows the lack of choice for the voters in transnistria;

• All of the parties are looking for support from the Russian authorities, the transfer of power in the region is impossible without it.

Comparison between the party systems of the

Republic of Moldova and transnistria

• Although not without faults, the Moldovan party system is far more developed than the party system in the transnistrian region;

• It gives the voters a range of options in the geopolitical and doctrine diversity, but it relies heavily on the support and ratings of the leaders of the party;

• The external influence shows the futility of the electoral process in the transnistrian region at the moment and the need for profound changes to make it truly democratic.