MoldovaThe 1990 Elections
Statue of Stephen the Great (1457-1504), the Moldovan king who
fought the Ottoman Empire
Courtesy Paul E. Michelson
Newly renovated Ciuflea Orthodox church, Chisinau
Courtesy Ernest H. Latham, Jr.
The first democratic elections for the Supreme Soviet
were
held in February and March 1990. Delegates were elected
for terms
of four years in 380 single-member electoral districts (by
early
1993 this number had decreased to 332 following removals
and
resignations). Electoral rules called for candidates to be
nominated by electoral districts rather than by "social
organizations," as had been the practice previously.
Meetings of
work collectives of 100 persons and residents' meetings of
fifty
or more persons were empowered to nominate candidates.
In order to be elected, candidates had to receive more
than
50 percent of the votes cast in an electoral district.
When there
was no victor in the first round of elections, the two
candidates
with the highest number of votes competed against each
other in a
second round.
In 1990 the republic was divided by the secession of
separatist regions and by the outbreak of widespread
fighting in
Transnistria. At the same time, economic crisis loomed, a
result
of the collapse of the economic institutions of the Soviet
Union.
The Moldovan government pursued reforms to address this
crisis,
but progress toward a market economy was slow, partly as a
result
of the government's preoccupation with the conflicts among
the
ethnic groups and partly because of resistance to reform
on the
part of those with vested interests in the communist
system.
In contrast to the artificial quiescence that
characterized
previous contests, the 1990 elections saw considerable
controversy. While national CPM officials, including
then-First
Secretary Petru Lucinschi, promoted open access to the
political
process, local communist officials in many areas used
traditional
means to retain power. Reformers complained that local
electoral
commissions were controlled by "enemies of restructuring"
and
that the administrative apparatus was being used to
subvert the
nominating process.
Just as important in determining the outcome of the
election
as bureaucratic resistance, however, was the Popular
Front's
organizational weakness in many localities outside the
capital,
especially in comparison with the local strength of the
CPM's
rural party apparatus. Despite these difficulties, Popular
Frontapproved candidates were on the ballot in 219 out of
Moldova's
380 electoral districts by the February 25 election date.
Meanwhile, the CPM, enjoying a rebound in popularity and
effectiveness under Lucinschi's direction, accounted for
86
percent of all candidates.
A high degree of cooperation between the Popular Front
and
reformers within the CPM hierarchy was also evident during
the
early transition period. On February 11, 1990, the Popular
Front,
with the support of government authorities, had organized
a
"Republic's Voters Meeting" in Chisinau. This was attended
by
more than 100,000 people and was addressed by Lucinschi
and other
high-level communist officials.
Among the candidates supported by the Popular Front one
could
find the names of ranking CPM members such as Mircea
Snegur. A
Central Committee secretary since 1985, Snegur was
appointed
chairman of the Presidium of the Moldavian Supreme Soviet
by the
staunchly antireform CPM leader Simion Grossu in July
1989. By
early 1990, however, Snegur had realigned himself with the
Popular Front and its political program.
The results of the first round of elections in February
confirmed the main trends that had appeared during the
nominating
process. Competitive races were held in 373 of the 380
districts,
and turnout was 84 percent of the electorate. In the 140
contests
decided without a runoff, reformers claimed victory for
fiftynine of the candidates, although 115 of the total elected
were
CPM members (some of whom were supported by the Popular
Front).
As during the nominating phase, reformers alleged that
significant violations of the election law had occurred,
despite
the Central Electoral Commission's finding of no major
infractions.
The second round of elections, held on March 10, 1990,
filled
the bulk of positions in the republic's Supreme Soviet and
had a
decisive impact on the country's political life. A fall in
turnout for the second round, to 75 percent of the
electorate,
appears to have hurt the performance of the Popular Front,
which
won in only forty-two out of 237 districts, a considerably
weaker
showing than in the February contest. With the conclusion
of the
runoff, 305 of the deputies to the new Supreme Soviet were
CPM
members; 101 of the Supreme Soviet deputies were selected
from
the list supported by the Popular Front. With the support
of
deputies sympathetic to its views, however, the Popular
Front
could control more than half of the votes in the new
Supreme
Soviet.
Data as of June 1995
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