Post by Bozur on Jul 30, 2009 11:05:53 GMT -5
Communists Lose in Moldova Vote
New York Times - Michael Schwirtz - 2 hours ago
CHISINAU, Moldova — Moldova's pro-Western opposition parties appear to have unseated Europe's last ruling Communist Party in repeat parliamentary elections that have become a test of whether the impoverished former Soviet republic aligns with the European Union or Moscow.
With 97 percent of the vote tabulated, the Communist Party seems to have lost the majority it held for eight years in Parliament, winning about 45 percent of the vote, Moldova’s Central Elections Commission said.
A smattering of opposition parties, loosely united in their pledge to forge stronger ties with the neighboring European Union, have vowed to form a coalition, which would give them 53 seats of the 101 seats in Parliament.
But the Communists, with 48 seats in the legislature, won enough votes to block the pro-Western forces from choosing a president, which could plunge the country into a prolonged political crisis.
Wednesday’s repeat elections came almost four months after a victory by the Communist Party in a parliamentary election last April set off riots by young people desperate for an end to political and economic stagnation.
In line with the Constitution, Vladimir Voronin, Moldova’s departing president, dissolved Parliament and set new elections last month after the Communist Party twice failed to muster support from at least one opposition lawmaker needed to select a new president. Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, Moldova is Europe’s poorest country. Unemployment is high, and the country is heavily dependent upon remittances from thousands of Moldovans working abroad.
The riots in April, sparked by allegations of electoral fraud, left government buildings gutted by fire and looting and at least three people dead.
The ensuing political crisis left Moldovan society, already fractured among competing ethnic and linguistic groups, even more polarized. Most young and urban citizens seek integration with the West, while the older and more rural population has a lingering affinity for Russia.
In his eight years in power Mr. Voronin has been buoyed by an older generation nostalgic for the stability of Moldova’s Soviet past. In those years he has hewed closest to Russia, which maintains a contingent of troops in Moldova’s breakaway Transdniester region and supplies the majority of Moldova’s energy. Moscow also recently promised Moldova a $500 million loan. Mr. Voronin is obliged to step down, having served two terms, though he will remain in power until Parliament chooses a new president.
It is still unclear what accounted for the Communist loss just four months after the party won 60 seats in Parliament, though a major factor might have been the defection of Marian Lupu, a popular Parliament speaker who joined the small Democratic Party after the April elections. That party received 12.5 percent of the vote.
Seen as a kingmaker in Wednesday’s elections, Mr. Lupu has pledged to join in coalition with the other pro-Western forces, but has cautioned against ignoring Russia.
“It is difficult to predict how the future will play out,” said Oazu Nantoi, the deputy chairman of Mr. Lupu’s Democratic Party. “But the first step has been taken: Voronin’s monopoly on power has been broken.”
International monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe who observed the election were generally upbeat about the conduct of the vote. But the O.S.C.E. said its 300 observers noted media coverage biased in favor of the Communists, intimidation of opposition supporters, and other violations of election law.
“The irregularities were many, but of the level and quality that would not affect the final results,” Ambassador Boris Frlec, head of the election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said at a press conference.
www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/world/europe/31moldova.html?em