| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Parlament / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
6 March 2005 |
| Timing and scope of renewal |
Elections were held for all seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The fourth parliamentary elections since independence in 1991 were held on 6 March 2005. A total of 1,123 candidates from eleven political parties and blocs and 12 independent candidates contested the elections in the country of 4.3 million inhabitants, of whom approximately 2.37 million were eligible voters. Some 367,000 Moldavans living abroad could also vote at embassies. In the region of Dniester, where authorities had refused to open any polling stations on their territory, nine special polling stations were set up on the left bank of the Dniester river to enable citizens to participate in the elections.
Before the elections, the Communist Party, led by President Vladimir Voronin, held 71 seats. The party faced challenges from both the pro-Russian and pro-Romanian opposition. The pro-Russian Democratic Moldova Bloc (BMD) was composed of 16 centrist and centre-right parties. It was led by Mr. Dumitru Braghis, the former prime minister, and Mr. Serafim Urechean, mayor of the capital Chisinau. The pro-Romanian opposition was the rightist Christian Democratic Popular Party (PPCD) of Mr. Iurie Rosca, reported to be anti-Communist. However, according to several analysts, the Communists had been seeking an alliance with PPCD, the third major political force. The oldest political party, the Social Democratic Party of Moldova (PSDM), set up in 1991, was seeking to surpass the six per cent threshold required to enter parliament and was reportedly expected to obtain a seat under its new leader, Mr. Ion Musuc.
Although President Voronin was elected in 2001 on a platform promising to foster significantly closer ties with Moscow, he radically changed his policy midway through his term to seek closer links with Europe. Regarding the separatist movement in the Dniester region, he called for a complete withdrawal of Russian troops and the deployment of European peacekeepers. The separatists opposed such an idea.
Over 2,300 local and 817 foreign observers, mainly from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe, monitored the elections. Afterwards, the OSCE announced that the Moldovan elections had generally complied with most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and other international election standards. It noted, however, that they had fallen short of some key commitments regarding campaign conditions and media access.
Turnout was recorded at 64.84 per cent, surpassing the 50 per cent needed to validate the vote.
Mr. Voronin's Communist Party obtained 45.98 per cent of the vote, down from 50 per cent in 2001. The party retained its majority in parliament with 56 seats, although it was five short of the 61 seats required to elect the president. BMD doubled its vote to 28.53 per cent (34 seats), while the PPCD slightly increased its share by securing 9.07 per cent of the vote (11 seats). Yet again, PSDM did not reach the threshold of six per cent.
The new parliament held its first session on 24 March 2005 and elected Mr. Marian Lupu as speaker.
On 4 April, the parliament re-elected Mr. Vladimir Voronin as president of the Republic. He received 75 of the 78 votes (23 members from the BMD did not participate in the vote) from the ruling Communist party and the opposition CVP/PDC. President Voronin was sworn into office on 7 April for his second and last term according to Moldova's constitution. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 6 March 2005 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
2'430'537
1'576'079 (64.84%)
18'251
1'557'828 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% of votes |
|
|
| Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) |
|
716'336 |
|
|
45.98 |
|
|
| Democratic Moldova Bloc |
|
444'377 |
|
|
28.53 |
|
|
| Christian-Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) |
|
141'341 |
|
|
9.07 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total of seats
|
|
|
|
|
| Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM) |
56
|
|
|
|
|
| Democratic Moldova Bloc |
34
|
|
|
|
|
| Christian-Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) |
11
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
79
22
21.78%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
21 to 30 years
31 to 40 years
41 to 50 years
51 to 60 years
61 to 70 years
Over 70 years
|
2
12
35
35
15
2
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
Engineers/PC experts
Educators
Legal professions
Economists
Scientists
Media-related professions (journalists/publishers)
Others
Agronomists
Medical professions (doctors, dentists, nurses)
|
35
14
12
10
10
6
5
5
4
|
| Comments |
Source:
- IPU Group (06.10.2005; 06.03.2006) |
|
