Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova

Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova
Abbreviation	PCRM
First Secretary	Vladimir Voronin
Executive Secretary	Oleg Reidman
Founder	Vladimir Voronin
Founded	22 October 1993; 31 years ago (1993-10-22)
Preceded by	Communist Party of Moldavia
Headquarters	Str. Iorga Nicolae 11, Chişinău
Newspaper	Comunistul
Youth wing	Communist Union of Youth of Moldova
Membership (2018)	11,700[1][needs update]
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Social conservatism Soviet patriotism Moldovenism Russophilia Euroscepticism
Political position	Far-left
National affiliation	Bloc of Communists and Socialists
European affiliation	Party of the European Left
International affiliation	IMCWP
Continental affiliation	UCP–CPSU
Colours	Red
Slogan	Republică! Puterea poporului! Socialism![1] ('Republic! Power to the People! Socialism!')
Parliament	8 / 101
District Presidents	0 / 32
Party flag
Website
www.pcrm.md
Politics of Moldova Political parties Elections

The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (Romanian: Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova, PCRM) is a communist party in Moldova led by Vladimir Voronin. It is the only communist party to have held a majority government in the post-Soviet states.^{[2][3][nb 1]} It has been variously described as communist,^[2] Moldovenist,^[4] populist,^[5] Russophile,^[6][7][8] and pro-Soviet.^[9]

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^[10] and the International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties.^[11] 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,^[12][13] reflecting Voronin's views,^[14] the country's strong social conservatism, and the influence of the Moldovan Orthodox Church.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17] 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.^[17]

As the ruling political party in Moldova, it won the 2005 Moldovan parliamentary election, and provided the President, Vladimir Voronin, the Prime Minister, Zinaida Greceanîi, and the President of the Moldovan Parliament, Marian Lupu. Under Voronin, it privatized several state-owned industries and governed in a multi-party fashion. It also favors European integration and eventual EU membership.

After April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election and the 2009 Moldova civil unrest, the political and civic climate in Moldova became very polarized.^[18] 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.^[19][20] 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.^[21]

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,^[2] which was downplayed during the PCRM's time in government but has resurfaced at the opposition and extra-parliamentary level.^[22] 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.^[22]

The party is known for its Moldovenist position, supporting the existence of Moldovan language and ethnicity.^[23] The party considers 28 June 1940 as "the day Moldova was liberated by the Soviet Union from the Romanian occupation".^[24][25] For these reasons, part of the press (such as journalist Oleg Serebrian)^[26] described the party as anti-Romanian.^[27][28]

The Communist Youth Union of Moldova (Romanian: Uniunea Tineretului Comunist din Moldova; Russian: Коммунистический союз молодёжи Молдовы) 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).

• President – Vladimir Voronin
• Vice Presidents – Oleg Reidman and Veaceslav Nigai
• Executive Secretary for Ideology – Constantin Starîș

Parliament of the Republic of Moldova

Election	Leader	Performance					Rank	Government
		Votes	%	± pp	Seats	+/–
1998	Vladimir Voronin	487,002	30.01%	New	40 / 101	New	1st	Opposition (ADR: CDM–PDMP–PFD)
								Opposition (ADR: CDM–PDMP–PFD)
								Support (independents→BeAB)
2001		794,808	50.07%	20.06	71 / 101	31	1st	Supermajority (PCRM)
2005		716,336	45.98%	4.09	56 / 101	15	1st	Majority (PCRM)
								Majority (PCRM)
2009 (April)		760,551	49.48%	3.50	60 / 101	4	1st	Supermajority (PCRM)
2009 (July)		706,732	44.69%	4.79	48 / 101	12	1st	Opposition (AIE: PLDM–PDM–PL–AMN)
2010		677,069	39.34%	5.35	42 / 101	6	1st	Opposition (AIE: PLDM–PDM–PL)
								Opposition (CPE: PLDM–PDM–PLR)
2014		279,366	17.48%	21.86	21 / 101	17	3rd	Opposition (APME: PLDM–PDM)
								Opposition (AIE III: PLDM–PDM–PL)
								Opposition (PDM–PPEM–PL)
2019		53,175	3.75%	13.73	0 / 101	21	5th	Extra-parliamentary (ACUM: (PAS–PPDA)–PSRM)
								Extra-parliamentary (PSRM–PDM)
2021		398,675	27.17% (BECS)	23.42	10 / 101	10	3rd	Opposition (PAS majority government)

President of Moldova

Election	Candidate	First round		Second round		Result
		Votes	%	Votes	%
2001	Vladimir Voronin	71[a]	70.30%			Elected Y
2005	Vladimir Voronin	75[a]	74.26%			Elected Y
2009 (May–June)	Zinaida Greceanîi	60[a]	59.41%			No winner
2009 (November–December)	Boycotted the elections					No winner
2011–2012						Lost N
2016						Lost N
2020						Lost N
2024	Vasile Tarlev	3.19	3.19%	Endorsed Alexandr Stoianoglo		Lost N

• 
  Votes won by PCRM in the April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election by raion and municipality

• Official website (in Romanian and Russian)