Political differences between Transnistria and Republic of Moldova. Loredana Gamurari. Parties and Party system in Europe.
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.