Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Parliaments: The Initial Decade by Philip Norton

Author:Philip Norton [Norton, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, General, Social Science
ISBN: 9780415495233
Google: _Ea2OQAACAAJ
Goodreads: 13710843
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2007-11-15T12:41:25+00:00

THE 1994 ELECTION

The rules governing the 1994 legislative elections called for a dramatically smaller legislature than its predecessor (104 as opposed to 380 deputies). A closed list proportional representation system was employed in the election. In order to avoid any impasse concerning representation from Transnistria and Gagauzeri (a second breakaway region in the south), the legislature established a single national electoral district. The campaign focused on alternative approaches to the separatist crisis and on economic reform. The Socialist Party and the Agrarian Democrats called for a slow transition to market capitalism, close relations with the Russian Republic and a conciliatory approach to majority/minority relations. At the opposite ideological extreme, the Christian Democratic Popular Front argued for unification with Romania. Moderates within the Romanian-speaking community, represented by the Congress of Intellectuals, campaigned for Moldovan independence and more rapid marketisation and privatisation.

The outcome of this first truly democratic legislative election reflected the sharp reversal that had occurred since independence. Turnout was quite high, with 79.31 per cent of Moldova's 2,356,614 registered voters participating.2 The single most significant outcome was popular rejection of the pro-Romanian parties in favour of those supporting Moldovan identity and ethnic accommodation. The Agrarian Democrats won 43.2 per cent of the vote and 56 of the 104 seats in the new parliament (Table 3). The Socialist Bloc (the Socialist Party and Edinstvo) captured 22 per cent of the vote and 28 seats. The Bloc of Peasants and Intellectuals (the electoral vehicle of the Congress of Intellectuals) took 9.2 per cent of the vote and 11 seats. The formerly dominant Popular Front took only 7.5 per cent of the vote and was reduced to nine seats in parliament. None of the other parties and blocs crossed the four per cent threshold.

TABLE 3

PARTY VOTES AND SEATS IN PARLIAMENT OF MOLDOVA, THREE POST-COMMUNIST TERMS, 1994 – 2001

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