2019 Moldovan parliamentary election explained

Country:	Moldova
Previous Election:	2014
Next Election:	2021
Seats For Election:	All 101 seats in Parliament
Majority Seats:	51
Turnout:	49.24% (6.55pp)
Election Date:	24 February 2019
Leader1:	Zinaida Greceanîi
Party1:	Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova
Last Election1:	25
Seats1:	35
Percentage1:	31.15
Leader2:	Vladimir Plahotniuc
Party2:	Democratic Party of Moldova
Last Election2:	19
Seats2:	30
Percentage2:	23.62
Leader4:	Maia Sandu & Andrei Năstase
Party4:	NOW Platform DA and PAS
Last Election4:	New
Seats4:	26
Percentage4:	26.84
Leader5:	Ilan Shor
Party5:	Șor Party
Last Election5:	New
Seats5:	7
Percentage5:	8.32
Map:	2019 Moldovan parliamentary election map.svg
Prime Minister
Before Election:	Pavel Filip
Before Party:	Democratic Party of Moldova
After Election:	Maia Sandu
After Party:	PAS (ACUM)

Parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 24 February 2019^[1] in order to elect the 101 members of the Parliament of Moldova. The Constitution holds that elections are to be held no later than four years and three months from the date of inauguration of the previous legislature.^[2] The elections were held under a parallel voting system, replacing the closed-list proportional system used in Moldova at all previous parliamentary elections since the independence. The electoral campaign period began in November 2018 and continued up until the election day.^[3] Candidates from four parties were elected to the Parliament, more specifically the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM), the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), the ACUM electoral alliance composed of the DA and the PAS, and the Șor Party. The Party of Communists (PCRM) failed to obtain any seats for the first time since the independence of the Republic of Moldova. The results were subsequently confirmed and validated by Moldova's Constitutional Court on 9 March 2019.^[4] Furthermore, the results triggered a constitutional crisis in June.

Background

See also: 2014 Moldovan bank fraud scandal and 2015–2016 protests in Moldova.

Electoral system

The 101 seats in the Parliament were elected using a parallel voting system introduced in 2017; 50 MPs were elected by proportional representation in a single nationwide constituency, with the other 51 elected from single-member constituencies.^{[5] [6]}

For the nationwide constituency, the electoral threshold varies depending on the type of list; for single parties or organisations it was 6%; for alliances of two parties it was 9%, and for alliances of three or more parties it was 11%. For independent candidates the threshold was 2%. Turnout must be at least 33% to validate the results.^[7] There is still controversy against the new election system and a referendum in 2018 against it was considered possible.^{[5] [8]}

Parties

	Name				Ideology	Leading candidate(s)
1		PDM		Democratic Party of Moldova	Social democracy	Vladimir Plahotniuc
2		ACUM	DA	Dignity and Truth Platform	Liberalism	Andrei Năstase
			PAS	Party of Action and Solidarity	Liberalism	Maia Sandu
			PLDM	Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova	Liberal conservatism	Tudor Deliu
3		PCRM		Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova	Communism	Vladimir Voronin
4		PSRM		Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova	Democratic socialism	Zinaida Greceanîi
5		Șor		Șor	National conservatism	Ilan Șor
6		MPA		Anti-Mafia Popular Movement	Populism	Sergiu Mocanu
7		PPPN		Our Party	Social conservatism	Ilian Cașu
8		PNL		National Liberal Party	National liberalism	Vitalia Pavlicenco
9		PPVP		People's Will	Neoconservatism	Ștefan Urâtu
10		PRM		Party of Regions of Moldova	Regionalism	Pavel Kalinin
11		PPDA		Democracy at Home Party	Unionism	Ion Leașcenco
12		MPSN		Hope Professionals' Movement	Populism	Andrei Donică
13		PPP		Motherland	Conservatism	Sergiu Biriucov
14		PPPVE		Ecologist Green Party	Green politics	Anatolie Prohnițchi
15		PL		Liberal Party	Conservative liberalism	Dorin Chirtoacă

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. When a specific poll does not show a data figure for a party, the party's cell corresponding to that poll is shown empty. The threshold for a party to elect members is 6%.

Date	Polling firm/source	PSRM	PLDM	PCRM	PDM	PL	PPPN	PPEM	ACUM		Șor	PUN	Others	Lead	Decided
									DA	PAS
2019
3–16 February	IMAS	33.8	ACUM	4.8	25.2	1.7	2.3		21.8		9.8		0.7	8.6	76.9
19–31 January	IMAS	34.8	ACUM	6.8	22.5	1.7	1.6		23.4		8.2		1.2	11.4	81.9
19–31 January	CBS-AXA	42.8	ACUM	2.4	19.3	0.9	2.8		25.1		5.8		1.0	17.7	–
17–26 January	iData	41.0	ACUM	3.8	20.6	<1.0	1.9		25.6		5.4		1.4	20.4	78.0
4–19 January	ASDM	49.2	ACUM	3.5	19.3	<1.0	2.8		19.1		4.4		1.7	29.9	82.4
5 December 2018 – 16 January 2019	IRI	43.3	2.2	3.3	15.5	1.1	2.2		10.0	14.4	5.6		2.2	27.8	89.0
2018
11–23 December 2018	IMAS	35.6	1.2	6.5	20.7	1.6	2.5	0.7	11.0	11.0	6.3	1.1	0.6	14.9	81.1
28 November–10 December 2018	ASDM	48.4		3.0	17.9		2.3		9.4	12.8	4.2		2.0	30.4	82.2
1-20 November 2018	ASDM	44.1		2.6	15.5		3.1		13.5	14.5	3.9		2.8	29.5	-
9-23 November 2018	BOP	45.5	1.0	3.4	15.0	1.6	2.4	0.2	9.9	14.6	5.9	0.2	0.4	30.5	-
20 October–9 November 2018	IMAS	36.0	1.7	7.7	20.9	2.0	3.7	1.6	9.4	8.5	6.6	0.7	1.1	15.1	75.2
11 September–16 October 2018	IRI	36.5	<1.0	4.6	13.7	1.1	2.3	<1.0	13.7	13.7	4.6		1.1	22.8	87.6
1-12 September 2018	ASDM	47.3		2.7	14.5		2.1		13.7	15.4	1.6		2.7	31.9	-
26 June–7 July 2018	ASDM	49.7		2.8	13.5		2.5		15.9	11.1	1.2		3.3	33.8	74.9
15–28 March 2018	ASDM	50.5		2.9	10.7	0.8	2.6	1.8	8.9	19.3	0.8	0.7	1.1	31.2	73.1
7 February–7 March 2018	IRI	43.9		4.9	9.8	2.4	2.4	2.4	4.9	24.4		1.2	2.4	21.5	83.0
16 February–6 March 2018	IMAS	38.9	0.8	7.9	16.2	2.0	3.4	3.2	7.3	16.4	3.2	0.5	0.2	22.5	-
2–18 January 2018	ASD	50.4		2.3	10.6	1.0	2.0	1.6	5.4	24.1	1.1	0.7	0.7	26.3	-
2017
18 November–5 December 2017	BOP	47.6	1.1	4.5	5.1	2.7	4.4	1.4	6.2	22.5	2.9	0.7	0.5	25.1	-
20 November–2 December 2017	ASDM	51.2	1.0	2.3	6.9	1.2	2.0	1.9	4.8	25.9	0.7		1.9	25.3	64.3
7–29 October 2017	Ziarul Timpul FOP	50.3	1.5	3.7	6.2	1.7	3.2	1.8	4.1	25.9	1.6		-	24.4	88.4
	IRI	34.0	<1.0	4.0	9.0	1.0	2.0	2.0	4.0	23.0	1.5		0.5	11.0	81.0
9–20 September 2017	CBS-Axa	51.1		4.5	6.0	1.2	3.9	1.3	5.8	24.1			2.1	27.0	50.8
22 June–9 July 2017	IMAS	42.3	1.0	6.4	11.7	2.2	5.2	2.2	7.5	19.2	1.3		1.0	23.1	50.8
7–25 April 2017	CBS-Axa	52.7		3.7	3.5	1.1	3.7	1.3	6.0	26.6	1.0		0.4	26.1	60.3
23 March–17 April 2017	BOP	43.6	0.2	4.3	4.9	1.0	4.1	1.7	6.0	32.2	1.0		1.0	11.4	75
10–19 March 2017	Ziarul Timpul FOP	54.2	0.6	2.6	4.3	0.6	2.5	1.4	5.6	28.2			-	26.0	89.3
13 February–7 March 2017	IRI	36.0	<1.0	4.0	4.0	<1.0	6.0	1.0	5.0	29.0			4.0	7.0	87
18–27 January 2017	CBS-AXA	51.2		4.2	4.3	0.5	3.2	0.9	5.8	28.5			1.5	22.7	63.3
2–10 January 2017	ASDM	49.0	1.0	3.5	9.5	1.5	8.0	2.0	12.0	11.0			2.5	37.0	77
2016
13 November 2016	Igor Dodon (PSRM) is elected President of Moldova
6–16 October 2016	IPP	39.0	1.0	4.0	11.5	1.5	11.5	2.5	13.0	14.0			2.0	25.0	67
29 September–9 October 2016	Intellect Grup	32.0	1.0	6.5	16.5	2.0	9.0	3.5	13.0	15.5			1.0	15.5	79
28 September–5 October 2016	ASDM	34.4	1.9	6.5	11.4	4.0	9.3	5.6	14.3	12.6			-	20.1	-
21 September–8 October 2016	CCSM	32.2	1.5	3.2	15.8	2.8	7.9	5.1	11.6	19.8			-	12.4	78.3
19–28 September 2016	Intellect Grup	30.6	1.4	7.2	14.4	4.1	10.1	4.2	13.2	15.0			-	15.6	83.5
14–25 September 2016	CBS-AXA	35.6	0.7	7.3	13.5	3.2	13.3	3.9	12.7	9.9			-	12.1	82.2
1–23 September 2016	IRI	29.0		5.0	12.0	1.0	8.0	3.0	13.0	14.0			1.0	15.0	86
2–10 September 2016	ASDM	27.7	2.7	8.7	11.9	5.5	11.5	7.9	10.3	13.8			-	13.8	92.6
11–24 June 2016	Intellect Grup	23.0	1.7	11.6	10.9	4.4	15.9	4.9	10.9	16.9			-	6.1	76.9
21 May–15 June 2016	FOP	28.7	1.5	8.6	8.0	3.3	13.6	7.2	12.4	16.7			-	12.0	91.5
May 2016	NDI	21.0	<1.0	12.0	8.0	5.0	13.0	5.0	18.0	16.0			-	3.0	76
16–23 April 2016	IPP	28.0	0.5	8.0	5.0	2.5	19.0	5.0	14.0	17.5			0.5	9.0	64
1–10 April 2016	ASDM	21.0	3.5	7.5	7.5	6.0	14.5	6.5	16.0	9.0			8.5	5.0	84
11–25 March 2016	IRI	20.0	2.0	6.0	7.0	2.0	21.0	4.0	12.0	12.0			2.0	1.0	88
11–20 March 2016	FOP	24.5	0.5	10.0	7.0	3.0	18.0	7.0	15.0	14.5			0.5	6.5	88
10–21 February 2016	ASDM	22.0	3.0	8.0	8.5	7.5	16.5	8.5	17.5				8.5	5.5	78
5–13 February 2016	CBS-AXA	21.5	1.0	5.0	7.0	2.0	33.0	6.0	14.0	10.5			-	11.5	60
8–16 January 2016	ASDM	23.5	3.0	7.0	9.0	8.0	20.5	9.0	12.5				7.5	3.0	72
2015
11–30 November 2015	NDI	21.0	3.0	12.5	5.5	7.0	22.5	10.0	17.0				1.5	1.5	71
8 November–1 December 2015	IPP	15.0	2.0	11.0	9.0	7.0	24.0	18.0	10.0				4.0	6.0	67
10–18 November 2015	ASDM	22.5	3.5	7.5	9.5	8.0	21.0	9.5	8.5				10.0	1.5	72
29 September–21 October 2015	IRI	15.0	3.0	7.0	5.0	5.0	20.0	12.0	7.0				2.0	7.0	76
10–18 September 2015	CBS-AXA	20.0	7.5	10.0	6.5	9.5	23.0	10.0	7.0				6.5	3.0	56
14 June 2015	Local elections	16.6	18.3	10.2	17.6	12.6	11.1	7.6			0.3		6.0	0.7	49
6–18 May 2015	CBS-AXA	28.6	8.7	15.5	6.8	11.7	14.8	14.0					-	13.1	60
1–12 April 2015	ASDM	25.5	14.0	15.5	11.5	15.0	8.5	7.5					2.5	10.0	-
1–26 March 2015	NDI	17.0	10.0	15.0	11.0	13.0	18.0	17.0	7.0				-	1.0	72
22 February–4 March 2015	CBS-AXA	20.8	15.9	20.5	8.2	20.8	9.3	4.4					-	0.0	61
January 2015	CBS-AXA	23.3	21.3	22.8	14.6	18.0							-	0.5	60
30 November 2014	Parliamentary elections	20.5	20.2	17.5	15.8	9.7							16.3	0.3	57

Results

Results by administrative-territorial unit

No.	Administrative-territorial unit	Turnout	PSRM	ACUM	PDM	ȘOR	PCRM	PN	PL
1	Chișinău	49.71%	34.79%	37.73%	13.37%	5.62%	2.69%	1.60%	2.14%
2	Bălți	45.08%	36.75%	14.04%	10.67%	6.42%	2.59%	27.25%	0.59%
3	Anenii Noi	46.27%	28.74%	23.04%	33.81%	6.09%	4.70%	0.92%	0.86%
4	Basarabeasca	40.56%	39.42%	18.79%	23.65%	5.61%	3.69%	5.96%	0.32%
5	Briceni	46.78%	45.26%	9.39%	30.63%	6.71%	3.97%	2.35%	0.37%
6	Cahul	42.07%	33.37%	24.81%	25.35%	5.61%	4.33%	2.13%	1.92%
7	Cantemir	38.52%	24.64%	24.45%	31.93%	7.21%	3.95%	3.36%	1.54%
8	Călărași	42.75%	16.54%	34.90%	31.66%	9.96%	3.54%	0.53%	1.14%
9	Căușeni	43.99%	25.63%	22.91%	33.36%	6.87%	6.85%	0.69%	0.71%
10	Cimișlia	39.56%	23.12%	26.96%	33.60%	7.52%	4.15%	1.67%	0.75%
11	Criuleni	50.32%	16.91%	38.95%	26.73%	8.05%	4.47%	0.77%	2.11%
12	Dondușeni	52.47%	43.82%	10.87%	26.58%	9.05%	4.38%	3.30%	0.48%
13	Drochia	47.14%	34.54%	15.93%	27.42%	7.82%	5.17%	6.54%	0.74%
14	Dubăsari	44.00%	34.17%	19.18%	17.22%	17.02%	7.66%	1.12%	0.88%
15	Edineț	50.41%	36.61%	10.54%	35.15%	9.85%	3.84%	2.46%	0.43%
16	Fălești	48.89%	34.19%	14.12%	29.17%	6.53%	4.97%	8.98%	0.51%
17	Florești	47.87%	30.25%	14.14%	38.80%	6.80%	5.55%	2.36%	0.57%
18	Glodeni	46.41%	31.48%	12.03%	31.67%	11.91%	3.58%	6.46%	1.05%
19	Hîncești	41.12%	14.93%	34.70%	39.73%	3.84%	3.00%	0.71%	1.12%
20	Ialoveni	49.36%	10.66%	47.34%	30.79%	3.50%	3.77%	0.69%	1.22%
21	Leova	41.87%	24.84%	23.32%	31.58%	9.53%	4.53%	3.21%	0.96%
22	Nisporeni	47.07%	6.15%	17.91%	72.26%	0.18%	1.88%	0.17%	0.47%
23	Ocnița	52.55%	55.77%	6.70%	20.87%	7.92%	4.93%	2.39%	0.29%
24	Orhei	50.64%	6.79%	19.05%	14.56%	55.12%	1.64%	0.32%	1.18%
25	Rezina	50.91%	20.38%	20.88%	36.29%	14.39%	4.52%	1.02%	0.73%
26	Rîșcani	49.48%	41.66%	11.08%	28.98%	7.05%	3.68%	5.20%	0.74%
27	Sîngerei	45.06%	29.50%	19.81%	26.42%	12.30%	4.76%	4.73%	0.59%
28	Soroca	47.87%	37.95%	16.43%	28.39%	6.62%	5.87%	1.80%	0.88%
29	Strășeni	47.05%	13.37%	33.37%	41.51%	4.38%	3.67%	0.61%	1.25%
30	Șoldănești	51.38%	17.88%	16.77%	42.36%	14.87%	4.42%	0.81%	1.00%
31	Ștefan Vodă	44.79%	30.96%	29.62%	27.00%	4.27%	4.23%	0.90%	0.66%
32	Taraclia	50.45%	80.34%	1.10%	6.64%	6.86%	2.89%	0.90%	0.39%
33	Telenești	46.38%	11.90%	36.93%	29.14%	14.91%	3.62%	0.44%	1.44%
34	Ungheni	48.14%	27.48%	25.12%	31.77%	6.39%	5.18%	1.38%	0.93%
35	U.T.A. Găgăuzia	45.78%	83.36%	0.54%	6.20%	3.91%	2.39%	2.44%	0.06%
36	Diplomatic missions (Moldovan diaspora)	N/A	8.52%	73.09%	4.81%	2.48%	1.56%	2.82%	2.77%
Total		49.22%	31.15%	26.84%	23.62%	8.32%	3.75%	2.95%	1.25%
Source: CEC

Voter turnout

Election year	Time
	9:30	12:30	15:30	18:30	21:00
2014	4.20%	20.98%	39.21%	51.01%	55.79%
2019	5.80%	24.00%	37.41%	45.65%	49.24%
Source: alegeri.md

Coalition talks

Following the elections, both the Socialist Party and Democratic Party proposed forming a coalition with ACUM, with the PDM also proposing that the post of Prime Minister would go to an ACUM member, despite PDM being the larger party. However, following the promises made during the campaign, ACUM refused both offers.^[9]

On 8 April, ACUM announced that they would reverse their decision about rejecting coalition negotiations with PSRM.^{[10] [11]}

After the decision, party leaders, Maia Sandu and Andrei Năstase of ACUM, officially invited PSRM to start coalition negotiations. Maia Sandu and Andrei Năstase said that they still rejected coalition negotiations with PDM, but they were willing to negotiate a deal with PSRM.^{[10] [11]}

Further coalition negotiations between ACUM and PSRM^{[10] [11]} resulted in the Sandu cabinet on 8 June, amidst a constitutional crisis.^[12]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Vițu . Valeria . 24 februarie 2019, ziua alegerilor parlamentare în R.Moldova . RFI . 27 July 2018 . Romanian.
2. Web site: Constitution of Moldova, Article 61 . LEX Moldova . Romanian . 2019-02-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131213013526/http://lex.justice.md/document_rom.php?id=44B9F30E:7AC17731 . 2013-12-13 . dead .
3. News: Moldovan Socialists Kick Off Election Campaign With Chisinau Rally. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 18 November 2018 . en. 2018-12-18.
4. News: Moldova's Constitutional Court Confirms February 24 Vote Result. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 10 March 2019 . en. 2019-03-11.
5. News: Hundreds Protest In Moldova Against New Electoral Law. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 September 2017 . en. 2019-01-11.
6. Web site: New Electoral Law in Moldova Criticised as a Tool to Keep Power . 2017-09-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170918022250/https://www.pism.pl/publications/bulletin/no-70-1010 . 2017-09-18 . dead .
7. http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2215_B.htm Electoral system
8. Web site: Anti-Mixed Voting Coalition backs referendum initiative. en.crimemoldova.com. 2019-01-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20180102191416/https://en.crimemoldova.com/news/politics/anti-mixed-voting-coalition-backs-referendum-initiative/. 2018-01-02. dead.
9. https://seenews.com/news/moldovas-democratic-party-invites-pro-eu-acum-bloc-to-form-govt-coalition-646593 Moldova's Democratic Party invites pro-EU ACUM bloc to form govt coalition
10. Web site: Moldova: Maia Sandu și Andrei Năstase cheamă la negocieri socialiștii pro-ruși ai lui Igor Dodon. 2019. G4Media.
11. Web site: "ACUM" invită PSRM la DISCUȚII "pentru aducerea R. Moldova pe calea normalității", după ce au refuzat, inițial, invitația socialiștilor. 2019. Ziarulnational.
12. News: Necșuțu . Mădălin . Moldova Faces Turmoil as Court Outlaws New Govt . BalcanInsight . 9 June 2019.