Молдова Коммунистік партиясы тарихы

Communist party in Moldova

Affiliated with the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it is also a member of the Party of the European Left and the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties. In contrast to most like minded left wing and communist parties, especially in the Western world, the party has a conservative outlook on social issues, reflecting Voronin's views, the country's strong social conservatism, and the influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church.

The PCRM was registered as a political party in 1994. The PCRM was part of the Popular Patriotic Forces Front at the time of the 1996 presidential election, in which Voronin stood as the coalition's candidate and won 10.3% of the vote, placing third. The party supported Petru Lucinschi in the second round of the election, and following Lucinschi's victory the PCRM was given two positions in the government. Romanian historian Dorin Cimpoeșu has described the party as Moldovenist.

In the 1998 Moldovan parliamentary election, the PCRM won 30.1% of the vote and 40 seats, becoming the largest party in parliament; in its platform, it called for "the rebirth of a socialist society". Despite its strong showing, the PCRM was left in opposition due to the formation of a center right coalition government, Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR). Although Lucinschi later nominated Vladimir Voronin as Prime Minister of Moldova in late 1999, the nomination was unsuccessful because Voronin did not have enough support in parliament.

The PCRM received 49.9% of the vote in the 2001 Moldovan parliamentary election, winning 71 out of the 101 seats in parliament. With a PCRM parliamentary majority, Voronin was elected as president by parliament in April 2001. The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re elected as party leader. The parliament failed to elect a new president. For this reason, the parliament was dissolved and, consequently, snap elections were held. At the July 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election, the party received 44.7% of the vote. That gave the former ruling party 48 MPs and the remaining 53 seats in the 101 member chamber went to four opposition parties which subsequently formed the governing Alliance for European Integration (AIE). For the first time since 2001, the Communists were pushed in opposition.

After the Parliament failed to elect a new President of the Republic, 2010 Moldovan parliamentary election were called. In the election, PCRM obtained 39.34% of votes, winning 42 seats, going again into opposition to the Alliance of European Integration (AIE). In 2011, Igor Dodon and Zinaida Greceanîi left the party and joined the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM).

The 2014 Moldovan parliamentary election saw a great defeat for PCRM, which received only 17.48% of votes, losing more than half of its electors to PSRM and electing 21 seats. Following the elections, the party agreed to give confidence and supply to the new Gaburici Cabinet. The agreement collapsed in June 2015 and the PCRM went back into opposition. In 2016, the party suffered a large split as 14 MPS left PCRM faction and established the Social Democratic Platform for Moldova, joining the majority of Filip Cabinet. On 10 March 2017, all 14 MPs joined the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM). Since then, the party rapidly declined in polls, losing most of its votes to PSRM and PDM.

At the 2019 Moldovan parliamentary election, the PCRM collapsed, receiving only 3.75% of votes and losing all representation in the parliament for the first time in independent Moldova.

At the 2021 Moldovan parliamentary election, the PCRM decided to join forces with the PSRM in order to re enter the parliament as the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists (BECS). The party won 10 out of 101 seats in the parliament as part of the aforementioned electoral bloc, thus regaining parliamentary presence after 2019.

According to Art. 1 of its statute adopted in 2008, the PCRM is the "lawful successor and heir of the Communist Party of Moldova both in terms of ideas and traditions." While officially espousing a Marxist Leninist communist doctrine, there is debate over their policies. In 2009, The Economist considered it a centre right party, communist in name only. Romanian political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu posits that the party is not communist in the classical sense because of the many changes since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but it is the clear successor to the Communist Party of Moldova, and not something foreign to it, for its Soviet nostalgia. For its latest period of governance, the PCRM has outlined a new quality of life, economic modernisation, European integration, and consolidation of the society as goals for the country. During the party's time in government, the party has adopted pro Russian policies, while remaining committed to European integration. Despite being known for gaining most of its support from pensioners, since 2009 it also started to attract more votes from young people and adopting a populist outlook, In contrast to social populist parties, some of which combine left wing policies on welfare with more right wing nationalist stances, the PCRM is only marginally populist, and its main ideology continues to be Marxism–Leninism and European socialism. The party considers June 28 1940 as "the day Moldova was liberated by the Soviet Union from the Romanian occupation". For these reasons, part of the press (such as journalist Oleg Serebrian) described the party as anti Romanian.

The Communist Youth Union of Moldova (Uniunea Tineretului Comunist din Moldova; Lang ru) was registered in 1995, currently including 6,000 members. According to the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Moldova, it is the largest youth organization in the country. The First Secretaries of the Central Committee of the UTCM were the following: Victor Verșîn (1995 1997), Eduard Babliuc (1997 2000), Tatiana Nicoară (2000 2004), Grigore Petrenco (2004 2007), Inna Șupac (2007 present).

+ Parliament of the Republic of MoldovaElectionLeaderPerformanceRankGovernmentVotes%± ppSeats+/–1998Vladimir Voronin487,002NewNew1st2001794,808 20.06 31 1st2005716,336 4.09 15 1st2009(April)760,551 3.50 4 1st2009(July)706,732 4.79 12 1st2010677,069 5.35 6 1st2014279,366 21.86 17 3rd201953,175 13.73 21 5th2021398,675 (BECS) 23.42 10 3rd