Post-Election Political Gridlock Is Paralyzing Moldova’s Government

Post-Election Political Gridlock Is Paralyzing Moldova’s Government
People protest against the parliamentary election results in Chisinau, Moldova, March 21, 2019 (Photo by Dmitrij Osmatesko for Sputnik via AP).

Parliamentary elections were held in Moldova in late February, but the country has yet to form a government. The opposition Socialist Party, which favors closer ties with Russia, gained 35 out of 101 seats in Parliament, while the ruling Democratic Party took 30 seats. A pro-European Union opposition coalition called the ACUM campaigned on an anti-corruption platform and came in third, with 26 seats. Any two of these three parties could form a governing coalition, but wide gaps in their platforms have so far precluded any agreements, says Denis Cenusa, a researcher at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany. In an email interview with WPR, he discusses the consequences of the country’s prolonged political stalemate.

World Politics Review: What were the main issues in Moldova’s parliamentary elections held earlier this year?

Denis Cenusa: The major political competitors in the election broadly focused on two different sets of topics. The Democratic Party, which is chaired by oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, focused on increasing social welfare payments and expanding road infrastructure projects in rural areas. Its focus was broadly echoed by the Socialist Party, which championed the need for more equitable social policies concerning public sector wages and pensions. However, both parties failed to explain where the money for an admittedly necessary but extremely costly social program would come from, as Moldova suffers from chronic budget deficits and sluggish economic growth. As it stands, the government’s ability to pay out public benefits depends on foreign aid, which is estimated to account for up to 15 percent of GDP.

Keep reading for free!

Get instant access to the rest of this article by submitting your email address below. You'll also get access to three articles of your choice each month and our free newsletter:

Or, Subscribe now to get full access.

Already a subscriber? Log in here .

What you’ll get with an All-Access subscription to World Politics Review:

A WPR subscription is like no other resource — it’s like having a personal curator and expert analyst of global affairs news. Subscribe now, and you’ll get:

  • Immediate and instant access to the full searchable library of tens of thousands of articles.
  • Daily articles with original analysis, written by leading topic experts, delivered to you every weekday.
  • Regular in-depth articles with deep dives into important issues and countries.
  • The Daily Review email, with our take on the day’s most important news, the latest WPR analysis, what’s on our radar, and more.
  • The Weekly Review email, with quick summaries of the week’s most important coverage, and what’s to come.
  • Completely ad-free reading.

And all of this is available to you when you subscribe today.