Parliamentary system in Moldova:



Long Way towards Parliamentary System in Moldova or Unexpected Results: Communist’s takeover of Power

Introduction

After the collapse of the Soviet Union many countries were under the dilemma of what kind of political system to choose. Definitely, the states who gained independence relied on democratic system and practices as the “only game in the town”[1]. However, within this democratic system different forms of government exist, which country has to choose in establishing or amending constitution.

This work examines the formation of the form of government in Moldova. It covers the history of the constitution making, formation of parliamentary system, which was the outcome of the struggle between president and legislature[2]. I will also talk about the features of the present situation of the country under the rule of the Communist Party of Moldova and how it undermines the effect of parliamentary system.

While making the research on Moldova, I came across the fact that there is no tentative research or work done by Moldavian researchers in this field. Most of the sources I used are performed by foreign scientists, researchers and media. It could raise some limitations, however, it is good opportunity for me to bring first source information as an insider and observer of most of the political battles occurred in Moldova.

Independence and Constitution building

In this chapter I will talk about the gaining of independence by the Republic of Moldova. I will tend to stress on the period and process of the constitution building. Moreover, I will study questions and aspect which influenced the adoption of new Constitution of the Republic of Moldova.

Prior to the official declaration of independence some democratic elections and nationalistic movements took place. On August 27, 1991, Moldova declared its independence from the Soviet Union and became a sovereign state, an act that consummated the process of escalating political self-assertion under way since 1988. Before this date the first democratic elections for the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian SSR took place on February 25, 1990, which resulted in Popular Front majority. The majority in the Popular Front and the introduction of Moldavian language (Latin script) as a state language led to the tension between the ethnic Romanians and non-Romanian minorities who were concentrated in the Transdniestria (tiny part on the left part of Dniester River), and Gagauzia (south region inhabited by Orthodox Turks). Hence, independence process did not go smoothly and grew into political and armed conflict.

Covering the reasons and details of bloody violent conflict on the Dniester River in the 1992 goes beyond this work, but I want to point out that Transdiestrian conflict and tensions which still remain after the cease fire agreement signed by Moldavian president Snegur and Yeltsin in July 1992 played important role in the constitution formation and form of government. This can be shortly explained by the agenda and policy towards conflict resolution used by presidents and parties of Moldova in order to attract popular support of minorities. Moreover, president was always considered as a guarantor of the conflict solution, who had monthly meetings with unrecognized president of Transdniestria, and who needed more authority for the negotiations. Many of these aspects laid as the bricks in constitution formation.

In addition to the armed conflict, Moldova experienced many disadvantages inherited from the Soviet Union. One of the big problems that country faced was the absence of democratic culture. Weak civil society lacked “the institutional strength necessary to keep state actors accountable on a regular basis”.[3] Weak legal traditions led to the biased and corrupted judiciary which played reasonable role in the political battles. Partisan judiciary was often used by the political officials of the Republic of Moldova to interpret Constitution in the way favorable to those officials. Moreover, low democratic culture led to a blurred constitution making process which was backed by the politicians with no democratic experience and Soviet mentality. Results were the ambitious presidents such as Mircea Snegur, Petru Lucinschi, and Vladimir Voronin who always tended to explore presidential authority.

In the face of ethnic conflict, weak civil society, rule of law and economic decline, Moldova had the most strongly democratic polity in the former Soviet Union.[4] Legislative elections in Moldova caused serious shifts in the parties, their agendas, and ideological composition of the legislature.[5] First elections to the Parliament (104 seats) have taken place on 27 February, 1994. The largest percentage of the votes went to the Democratic Agrarian Party (DAP) 43.18 %, led by the Andrei Sangheli and Petru Lucinschi. The DAP got 56 mandates in the new independent democratic Parliament of Moldova. Socialist Party and "Unitate-Edinstvo" Movement Bloc (SPUEMB) received 22 % of popular votes and acquired 28 seats in the Parliament correspondingly.[6] 9.21 % of votes were devoted to Peasants and Intellectuals Bloc (PIB) who got 11 mandates, and 7.53 % of votes constituting 9 parliamentary seats were received by the Alliance of the Popular Christian Democratic Front (APCDF).[7] Thus, legislature elections based on high pluralism and parties’ shifts led to the low mandates gained by rightist alliance (APCDF) which supported charismatic nationalist leader and President Mircea Snegur. Election results also reasoned the form of government established by the Constitution.

Parliamentary elections posed a threat to President Mircea Snegur’s broad power in the euphoria of independence, transition and conflict. Parliament started to work fruitfully by drafting new constitution of the Republic of Moldova. A new Constitution adopted on July 29, 1994 went into effect on 27 August 1994. First article of the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova exposes general principles, which are very important for the newly democratized country:

Article 1.  The State of the Republic of Moldova

(1) The Republic of Moldova is a sovereign, independent, unitary and indivisible state.

(2) The form of government of the State is the Republic.

(3) Governed by the rule of law, the Republic of Moldova is a democratic State in which the dignity of people, their rights and freedoms, the open development of human personality, justice and political pluralism represent supreme values that shall be guaranteed.[8]

Finally, after 3 years of political tensions inside the country and armed conflict, the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova went into effect. The reasons which influenced constitution formation were studied in this chapter. Lack of democratic culture, pluralism, biased judiciary, territorial and linguistic conflicts, national movements, and president’s role were the aspects which directly or indirectly influenced the formation and content of the new constitution. Political parties, which shifted, divided, changed its leaders, made alliances all played reasonable role during these 3 years period for constitution building, which resulted in the creation of semi-presidentialism, which I am going to analyze in the next part of this work.

Semi-Presidentialism

First of all I would like to define semi-presidentialism relying on the theoretical base. Secondly, I will compare the powers of the Parliament, President, and Government of Moldova foreseen by the Constitution, and how they correspond to the theory of semi-presidentialism. Finally, I will attempt to answer the question: “Did the new Constitution of the Republic of Moldova presuppose semi-residential form of government?”

In defining semi-presidential system I will use jointly applied characteristics introduced by Sartori, which are so clear that I can not keep myself from citing them all:

i) The head of state (president) is elected by popular vote – either directly or indirectly – for a fixed term of office.

ii) The head of state shares the executive power with a prime minister, thus entering a dual authority structure whose three defining criteria are:

iii) The president is independent from parliament, but is not entitled to govern alone or directly and therefore his will must be conveyed and processed via his government.

iv) Conversely, the prime minister and his cabinet are president-independent in that they are parliament-dependent: they are subject to either parliamentary confidence or no-confidence (or both), and in either case need the support of a parliamentary majority.

v) The dual authority structure of semi-presidentialism allows for different balances and also for shifting prevalences of power within the executive, under the strict condition that the ‘autonomy potential’ of each component unit of the executive does subsist.[9]

I assume that there are other defining characteristics proposed by famous scientists, though I find Sartori’s properties most theoretical and precise.

Constitution of the Republic of Moldova established certain important powers for the Parliament. According to the constitution, Moldova is a democracy with a unicameral legislature, the Moldovan Parliament, members of which “are elected by voting based on universal, equal, direct, secret and freely expressed suffrage”[10]. Among the basic powers stipulated by the Constitution there are important ones such as authority: “to pass laws, decisions and motions”, “to control the executive power” (vote of confidence or no-confidence to the Prime Minister and Government), and to amend constitution.[11] Right of confidence or no-confidence to the Prime Minister and his cabinet by Moldovian Parliament is the characteristic that corresponds to the Sartori’s definition of semi-presidential system.

Having defined Parliament powers, it is time to pass towards analysis of President power stipulated in the Constitution. Consequently, the head of the state is the President of the Republic of Moldova, who shares executive power with the Government. Under constitutional arrangements prevailing at the time of the 1990 national elections, the President was elected by members of the Supreme Soviet, but provisions introduced in 1991 called for the President's direct election by all members of the population over eighteen years of age.[12] According to the Constitution President is elected for a four-year term of office by open, free popular voting. President acquires powers such as ability to designate a candidate for the office of Prime Minister supported by the vote of confidence of the Parliament, to revoke or renominate certain members of the government according to the proposals from the Prime Minister.[13] President also has the power to dissolve Parliament in case of deadlock in forming the Government and impasse in passing of new legislation for 3 consecutive months.[14] President authorities under Constitution clearly coincide with theoretical characteristics. Head of the state is elected popularly, which gives him broad legitimation, however, President experiences the cohabitation with the Prime Minister, which is embodied in the dual authority.

Government of the Republic of Moldova consists of the cabinet, Prime Minister and the first deputy Prime Minister.[15] Actions of the Prime Minister, who is the head of the cabinet, are sufficiently limited. According to the Article 101 of the Constitution Prime Minister should inform the President of the Republic on “matters of special importance”, however, it is vague statement in my opinion as can be interpreted differently.[16] What can be especially important for the President, may seem not that important for the Prime Minister. Such uncertain provision may lead to the disturbance of the work of the Prime Minister, however, from the other side it leads to the checks of the government work by the President.

Thus, having analyzed the powers of Parliament, President, and Government, I came to conclusion that they coincide with the characteristics of the semi-presidentialism by Sartori. There is dual authority structure, but with weak Prime Minister and stronger President. The Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova is president-independent (however history showed that it was not always the case), and parliamentary dependent. I can deduct that political system implied by the Constitution fits the Sartori’s model of semi-residential form. Hence, the answer to the question raised at the beginning of this chapter is discovered. If the characteristics of power interaction and authority of Parliament, President, and Government go under theoretical framework, then the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova presupposes the semi-presidential form of government. Definitely, in practice it was not always true, as Moldavian Presidents always tended to increase their power and even did it in contradiction with the constitution, which led to the high confrontation with the Parliament and the establishment of the parliamentary system.

From Semi-Presidentialism to Parliamentarism

This chapter will deal with political battles and confrontation between President Lucinschi and Parliament. It will show how Moldova moved from the semi-presidential system to the parliamentary one. Lucinschi tended to increase his power and establish presidential system. However, he faced high confrontation from the Parliament, which established parliamentary system in the Republic. I consider that it was mainly done in order to diminish the influence of Lucinschi, and not as a rational trend towards parliamentarism. This chapter may seem a little bit detailed, but I think it will help to follow the trend of tensions and outcome.

The presidential elections on November 17, 1996 showed high competition between two ambitious leaders, the incumbent Snegur, and the challenger, Lucinschi. With the turnout of about 70 % of eligible population Mircea Snegur received 38.75 % of votes.[17] Petru Lucinschi, who was the speaker of the parliament, and who entered the run as independent candidate acquired 27.66 % of popular votes.[18] Lucinschi, in comparison with Snegur who supported unity with Romania and nationalistic ideas, was more centric. He promised to sign memorandum granting Transdniestria autonomy, to open Slavic university, and more concessions to minorities.[19] Here we see the use of the topic of Transdniestrian conflict by candidate in his electoral agenda as a base for attracting minority’s support.

Due to big number of candidates and low percentage gained by candidates, second round of president elections took place, which was not that successful for Mircea Snegur. According to the second round of elections with 71.61 % popular participation Petru Lucinschi won presidential run acquiring 54.02 % of votes, while Mircea Snegur received 45.98 %.[20] Presidential run was not successful for the first president of the Republic of Moldova due to his too pro-Romanian agenda and radical policy. Lucinschi’s centrist agenda helped him to win the run. Right after the inauguration new president showed his tendency towards the increase of presidential powers.

Semi-presidential form of government did not give Lucinschi too much power. Lucinschi referred that he required the power to appoint the Prime Minister, to dismiss ministers without approve of the head of government, and more authority in solving Transdniestrian conflict. The real political confrontation begins between President and Parliament, which supports Mircea Snegur. Moldova faces gridlock, as Parliament shots down any reform proposal by Lucinschi, even economic reforms. [21] All this leads to the turmoil on the political arena and even higher willingness of Lucinschi to explore his powers in order to solve the situation.

President also had tensions with the Government and the Prime Minister. It can be explained by difficult cohabitation process with Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc, who supported “the formation of a non-partisan government of “professional and competent” technocrats”. President, supported by the Democratic Agrarian Party (DAP) was against such appointments and insisted on the appointment of DAP members.[22] However, the Prime Minister was against it. Lucinschi having high ambitions threatened his anti-supporters from the cabinet of ministers by voiding their positions; however, constitution (article 82) does not allow president to perform such actions, stating that he can dismiss cabinet members only with consultation and recommendation of the Prime Minister.[23] Confrontation with government added points to the president’s attempt to gain more power.

High political fights and shifts led to striking results on the Parliament elections on March 22, 1998. Party of Communist gained 30.01 % of votes and received 40 mandates in 101 member unicameral Parliament.[24] The “Democratic Convention” Electoral Bloc (DC) founded by the ex-president Mircea Snegur received 19.42 % of votes and acquired 26 mandates in the Parliament.[25] Snegur’s Bloc consisted from radical right and nationalist parties, who supported the reunification with Romania, Europeanization direction and support of Orthodox Church.[26] Two other parties “For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova” Electoral Bloc (FDPM) [centrist] and Parties of Democratic Forces (PDF) [center right] who supported the president Lucinschi took 18.16 % of votes or 24 seats and 8.84 % or 11 seats correspondingly.[27] Lucinschi got low support in the Parliament and was enforced to look for the backing from the communists.

Thus, the first wave of regaining power by communists began. It was mainly due to endless battles between President and legislature, which led to the economic regression and turmoil in the country. Moreover, communists were mainly supported by old population whom they promised higher pensions, and by minorities. However, from my own perspective, such unexpected results on 1998 Parliament elections were due to the only one alternative embodied in the Communist Party, because other parties and leaders undermined people’s faith in democratic principles by their political fights and inactions.

One very interesting thing I would like to mention in this chapter relates to the political culture of newly independent Moldova. The fact that yesterday enemies can become today’s allies played important role in the shift to the parliamentarism. That happened after the 1998 Parliament elections by forming the Alliance for Democracy and Reform (ADR) consisting of the “Democratic Convention” Electoral Bloc (DC), “For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova” Electoral Bloc (FDPM), and Parties of Democratic Forces (PDF).[28] It was mainly done in order to overbalance increasing power of the Party of Communists, who started to gain power. Actually, that relates to the topic of the next chapter of this work. However, even after this union of parties, the tensions between President and Parliament did not diminished.

The peak of political confrontation was reached by president Lucinschi’s initiative to increase his power by introducing presidential system. On May 23, 1999 a referendum took place on the initiative of Lucinschi. The question was raised: “Do you support amending the constitution in order to introduce a presidential form of government in the Republic of Modova, in which the President of the Republic shall be responsible for forming and leading the government, as well as for the results of the country’s governance?”[29] The referendum has been declared invalid (there were some struggles between Parliament, President, and Judiciary concerning this issue) due to low voter turnout of about 58 % out of necessary 60 %, however, about 60 % of those who voted supported president by answering in affirmative.[30] President was applying to direct support of the citizens, who gave him legitimacy.

After having little fights with Parliament, Lucinschi made next radical step in his attempt to establish presidentialism. He signed up a decree to create special commission to draft a law which presupposed the extension of his authority.[31] Decree presupposed that “presidential rule would “improve the organization and activity of the legislature and the executive, increase efficiency in public affairs, speed up socioeconomic reforms, consolidate the rule of law and public order, and restore public confidence in state structures.””[32] Hence, on August 4, 1999 president’s commission published a draft of constitutional amendments, which blamed the existing system of government for its instability. The draft included the right for the president to appoint and dismiss the Prime Minister and ministers, to become the head of the supreme Security Council, appoint prosecutors and judges. [33] Moreover, according to the constitutional amendments the president’s term should be extended to 5 years and the Parliament mandates need to be decreased to 70.[34] The president could also dissolve the Parliament in case of blocking any law for more then two months.[35] Thus, according to the draft, President could gain very broad authorities, which are very similar with super-presidential Russian system.

The result of such step by the President towards changing the political system was the very decisive move by the Parliament. On July 5, 2000 Moldovan Parliament rejected president’s draft towards expansion of his power and canceled popular presidential elections in the country.[36] Ambitious president faced fiasco. Parliament voted in favor of amending constitution and changing from semi-presidential republic to parliamentary one. Therefore, President will be elected by the Parliament (3/5 majority from the deputies or 61 deputy). According to the amendment, Government received more power, but would be formed exclusively by Parliament. The head of the state would be the speaker of the Parliament, the Prime Minister would be the second political figure, and the President would be considered as merely figurehead for the parliamentary system.[37] These are all the characteristics of parliamentarism, which diminished power of President, and broadened the Parliament authority.

Long political confrontation ended with the victory of the Parliament. Parliamentary system left no chance for Lucinschi to be reelected, because he had no support in the Parliament. This revealed some drawbacks, which parliamentarism could bring such as taking over of the presidency by charismatic communist leader Vladimir Voronin with all its circumstances. According to some experts Lucinschi had many chances to be reelected by people, as many saw him as a promoter of economic reforms and better living conditions. But now people can elect only the parliament members, who then choose the President, situation which can lead to the political monopoly. In case of Moldova it is arguable to say that by rather hasty amendment to the constitution - in my view was mainly caused not by rational choice, but by the result of confrontation, reallocation of the elite interests and political fights – deputies made good and effective decision by changing the system to the parliamentary one not taking into consideration high number of communist in the Parliament and underevaluating communists organizational order and connections. Time of political tensions, turmoil, and confrontation favored communists to make use of the situation and take over the power in a very democratic way.

Communists Takeover

This chapter will describe the process of democratic takeover of the power by communists. I will depict the parliamentary elections which resulted in communist’s victory. This part of the work also aims to show the current situation under the rule of the Communist Party and how parliamentary system with all its advantages can lead to the lack of pluralism, democratic principles, and the establishment of political monopoly by one party.

Prior to the acquiring of high majority in the Parliament by the communists, some interesting events took place in the political life of Moldova. According to the amendments to the constitution, when time came, the election of new president has to be done by the Parliament. There were two candidates in this crucial presidential run. Vladimir Voronin, the leader of the Communist Party (served as a minister of interior in the Soviet times[38]) and centrist candidate Pavel Barbalat, president of the Constitutional Court (served in the Judiciary Soviet system).[39] After unsuccessful rounds of president election, where Voronin lacked only a few votes to get elected, and boycotting the elections by the anti-communist coalition inspired by the leader of Christian Democratic People’s Party (CDPP) Iurie Rosca, the President according to the Constitutional provisions and terms, and after consultations with the Constitutional Court dissolved the Parliament and set the early Parliamentary elections for February 25, 2001.[40] Failure to elect the president of the country resulted in the early Parliament elections.

Anti-communist coalition leader who boycotted the third round hoping that new early parliament elections would bring better results for them and diminish the number of communists was mistaken. On 2001 Parliamentary elections the Communist Party (PC) gained 50.07 % of the popular votes and acquired 71 mandate in the Parliament, Electoral Bloc “Braghis Alliance” (BEAB), led by the Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis and Christian Democratic People’s Party (CDPP) led by Iurie Rosca received only 19 and 11 parliamentary seats correspondingly.[41] Results of the elections crucially changed the political situation in the country.

The Party of Communist received good field for actions. Controlling more than three-fifths of Parliament, communists had free hands to amend Constitution, elect president, and Prime Minister (what they did shortly after). Political pluralism and turmoil ended with the absolute control of the state by the Communists Party making the Republic of Moldova the first former Soviet Republic who returned communist rule back, though new Communists were more democratized. From this time the paradise begins for the ruling party.

Parliament elected the President, or precisely speaking the Communist Party, which had enough mandates to elect the head of state. The new President of the Republic of Moldova became the communist leader Vladimir Voronin, who right after the inauguration pointed out “that human rights meant nothing if low living standards did not allow people to live in dignity”, and supported “enlarging the role of the presidency, despite the fact that he had endorsed the July 5, 2000, constitutional reform reducing the powers of the head of state”.[42] Moreover, on the Fourth Congress of the Party of the Communists of Moldova Vladimir Voronin, after his reelection as a party leader, was speaking about “the "deadlock of capitalism" and the "revival of socialism," adding that the defeat of socialist systems was only temporary”.[43] From this time the absolute rule of the Party of the Communists begin with all its drawbacks and constitutional violations.

Communists started to rule the country. Voronin nominated the Prime Minister, who was his marionette. The Parliament has adopted the new head of government, and the President was able to control and rule the Government, the Parliament, which mostly constituted his party, and the state in general. Hopeless opposition could not contradict the policy of the President, as it had very few seats. Thus, parliamentarism which is considered the most democratic form of government resulted in the authoritarian rule under the democratic principles, which is legitimated by the people.

Many experts criticizing the political situation in Moldova hoped that new Parliamentary elections would change the picture and result in the real power sharing. Last Parliamentary elections took place on March 6, 2005 bringing the majority of 56 seats in the Parliament to the Communist Party, 11 mandates to the Christian Democratic People’s Party (CDPP), and 34 seats to the Electoral Bloc “Moldova Democrata” (BMD)[44]. Communists again received the victory, but needed 6 more votes to elect the President according to the Constitution. Some experts considered that no one from the deputies would support the Communist Party in voting for Voronin again, and this would lead to the gridlock. But to the great surprise, the enemy of the communists, Christian democrats, entered into the coalition with communists and the President of the Republic of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin was reelected. It showed once again the young political culture of Moldova, where yesterday enemies became today’s allies. CDPP supported communists in exchange on ministerial portfolios, promised by CP.

Thus, the Party of Communists managed not only to take, but also to retake over the power in Moldova. Parliamentary system failed to work properly in Moldavian political circumstances. Current political situation leads to the higher extension of the President power by increasing police role, biased Judiciary, lack of pluralism. Democracy is only on the paper, but not in the reality. The spirit of old communist way of ruling soars in the air.

Conclusion

Long way towards parliamentary system in Moldova ended up with the political monopoly of the communists. Many factors lied in the base of such outcome. The lack of democratic political culture, territorial and linguistic conflict, continuity of political tensions and battles between president and the parliament are all influenced the political situation to which Moldova is now.

This work analyzed the process of constitution making, which was done in three years of gaining independence by the country. Making constitution was respectively smooth, but the amendments adopted by the Parliament in the hasty way, led not to the very successful outcomes in the new democracy of Moldova. Struggle of Presidents to increase their power enforced Parliament to turn Republic to the parliamentary system, hoping to diminish the striking authority of president. However, the awakening of the communists, their strict organization, influence, and stubbornness, supported by the people’s unbelief in the new weak democrats, resulted in the gaining total control under parliamentary, presidential, government, and judicial institutions by the Party of Communists.

Parliamentary system, established after semi-presidentialism, towards which country moved so long, failed to democratize Moldova and improve its political situation. Communists rule undermined the effect of the parliamentary system resulting in the democratic authoritarian way of ruling the country. Democracy, as “the only rule of the game” led to the authoritarianism backed by the democratically “effective” parliamentary system. Moldova, with its old camp corrupted politicians, unorganized parties (except the Party of Communists), and weak opposition stepped far back in its economic and political developments as it had in the middle 90s.

References

Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, adopted on July 29, 1994, with the amendments of July 5, 2000 docs.md (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 6 no. 4, 1997.

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 7 no. 1, 1998.

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 7 no. 2, 1998.

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 8 no. 4, 1999.

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 9 no. 4, 2000.

Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 10 no. 2, 2001.

Jeffries, Ian. The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition. London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004.

Linz, Juan J. and Alfred Stepan. Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe. Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Moldova, Government System. (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

Sartori, G. Comparative Constitutional Engineering. An Inquiry into Structures, Incentives and Outcomes. Houndmills: Macmillan Press, 1994.

Way, Lucan A. “Pluralism by Default in Moldova. ” Journal of Democracy 13, no. 4 (2002): 127-140.

2005 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

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[1] Juan J. Linz and Alfred Stepan, Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe (Baltimore and London: The John Hopkins University Press, 1996), 434.

[2] Under legislature I mean Parliament.

[3] Lucan A. Way, “Pluralism by Default in Moldova,” Journal of Democracy 13, no. 4 (2002): 129, 127-140.

[4] Ibid., 130.

[5] Ibid., 130.

[6] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 1994 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[7] Ibid.

[8] Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (1994), art. 1, title 1. docs.md (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[9] G. Sartori, Comparative Constitutional Engineering. An Inquiry into Structures, Incentives and Outcomes (Houndmills: Macmillan Press, 1994), 132.

[10] Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (1994), art. 61, title 3. docs.md (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[11] Ibid., art. 66, title 3.

[12] Moldova, Government System. (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[13] Constitution of the Republic of Moldova (1994), art. 82, title 3. docs.md (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[14] Ibid., art. 85, title 3.

[15] Ibid., art. 97, title 3.

[16] Ibid., art 101, title 3.

[17] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 1996 Presidential Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[18] Ibid.

[19] Eastern Europe Newsletter, 12 October 1996, vol. 10, no. 20, p.8 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 330.

[20] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 1996 Presidential Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[21] Business Central Europe 1997: 50-1 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 332.

[22] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 6 no. 4, 1997.

[23] Ibid.

[24] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 1998 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[25] Ibid.

[26] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 7 no. 1, 1998.

[27] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 1998 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[28] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 7 no. 2, 1998.

[29] Moldovan Economic Trend, Monthly issue, June 1999, p.3 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 333.

[30] Current Digest of the Soviet Press, 1999, vol. 51, no. 21, pp. 15-16 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 333.

[31] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 8 no. 4, 1999.

[32] Ibid.

[33] Current Digest of the Soviet Press, 1999, vol. 51, no. 31, p. 13 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 334.

[34] Ibid., 334.

[35] Ibid., 334.

[36] Sevodnia, 6 July 2000, p.3: Current Digest of the Soviet Press, 2000, vol. 52, no. 27, pp. 16-17 in Ian Jeffries, The Countries of the Former Soviet Union at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century: The Baltic and European states in transition (London and New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2004), 334.

[37] Ibid., 335.

[38] Voronin’s previous Soviet experience as a minister of interior was highly reflected in his way of ruling the country by increased power of police structures, investigation institutions, and persecution policy.

[39] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 9 no. 4, 2000.

[40] Ibid.

[41] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 2001 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

[42] Constitutional Watch. A country-by-country update on constitutional politics in Eastern Europe and the ex-USSR. in East European Constititutional Review, vol. 10 no. 2, 2001.

[43] Ibid.

[44] Political Parties of the Republic of Moldova, 2005 Parliamentary Elections (last accessed on January 14, 2006).

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