The Moldovans’ initial striving for a close bond with Romania (plan for a later reunification) led to conflict with the Gagauz in the south of the country (in August 1990 proclamation of a Gagauz republic) and with the Russian-Ukrainian minority in Transnistria east of the Dniester (In September 1990, with the support of the 14th Russian Army stationed there, proclamation of a Dniester republic); the Moldovan leadership did not recognize both secessions. The first free presidential elections on December 8, 1991, which were boycotted by the Russian-Ukrainian and Gagauz population groups, confirmed President Mircea Snegur (* 1940; in office since 1990). A constitution passed by parliament in 1994 emphasized Moldova’s statehood (refusal to unite with Romania) and granted the possibility of creating autonomous regions. After the resignation of Prime Minister Valeriu Muravski (* 1949), Andrei Sangheli (* 1944) was his successor in July 1992 (resignation in December 1996); He was followed in January 1997 by Ion Ciubuc (* 1943, † 2018) as head of government of a cabinet dominated by the Agrarian Democratic Party (winner of the first multi-party parliamentary elections on February 27, 1994). On December 1, 1996, the previous President of Parliament, P. Lucinschi, won the presidential elections (assumption of office on January 15, 1997). In the parliamentary elections in March 1998, the Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM), which had only been re-admitted at the end of 1994, achieved the highest share of the vote (30.1%); however, the government was formed by a non-communist coalition under Prime Minister Ciubuc, who resigned in early February 1999 against the backdrop of a severe financial and economic crisis; His successor in office was the previous deputy head of government Ion Sturza (* 1960; movement for a democratic and prosperous Moldova), who was overthrown by parliament in November 1999 with a vote of no confidence. The new government under the non-party Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis (* 1957; previously first deputy minister of economics) was confirmed by parliament in December 1999. In July 2000, President Lucinschi signed a constitution-amending law passed by parliament against his veto on the future election of the president by parliament.
According to allcitycodes, the early parliamentary elections on February 25, 2001 were won again by the PCRM (50.2% of the votes and thus 71 of the 101 parliamentary seats). Its chairman, W. Voronin, was elected President of the Republic by Parliament on April 4, 2001; The new Prime Minister was Vasile Tarlev (* 1963), who was not party to any party. Voronin advocated close relations between Moldova and Russia (willingness to hold talks about joining the Russian-Belarusian Union), also against the background that his country had become the poorest in Europe (national debt of over 1.3 billion US dollars in 2001 – $). As early as November 2001, a Moldovan-Russian agreement on friendship and cooperation was signed by Presidents Voronin and Vladimir Putin been signed. There have been repeated protests against the Russian-friendly government policy, especially after Russian was reintroduced as a compulsory subject in Moldova’s schools at the beginning of 2002 and the constitutional court received a draft law according to which Russian should also be the second state language (implemented in 2003). In the parliamentary elections on March 6, 2005, the PCRM defended its majority (56 seats) despite losses; Voronin and Tarlev were subsequently confirmed in office. 2008 Zinaida Greceanii (* 1956) succeeded Tarlev.
Following the parliamentary elections on April 5, 2009, violent riots broke out. The opposition accused the victorious PCRM of electoral fraud. The election of a new president failed. As a result, parliamentary elections were held again on July 29, 2009, in which the parties of the pro-Western opposition (PLDM, PDM, PL and AMN) won the majority of the seats. On August 8, 2009, these parties came together to form the »Alliance for European Integration«. In September 2009, Voronin announced his resignation from the presidency. The previous speaker of parliament and PL politician Mihai Ghimpu (* 1951) took over his official duties. The PLDM politician he proposed, Vlad Filat (* 1969) became Prime Minister on September 25, 2009 at the head of a cabinet of the »Alliance for European Integration«. In the period that followed, it was not possible to elect a new president. On September 5, 2010, a referendum to decide on the reintroduction of direct elections for the president failed due to the low turnout.
Parliamentary elections were held again on November 28, 2010, in which the PCRM suffered further losses in votes. The PDM politician Marian Lupu (* 1966) was elected to succeed Mihai Ghimpu as President of Parliament and thus provisional head of state. PDLM, PDM and PL formed a new cabinet. Vlad Filat remained head of government. However, the coalition parties still lacked the three-fifths majority required to elect a president. Not until March 16, 2012, with the help of dissenters from the opposition camp, could the non-party politician N. Timofti be elected to the highest office of the state. Disputes over corruption led to a break in the governing coalition in 2013. The Filat cabinetwas overthrown on March 5, 2013 by a vote of no confidence in parliament. After the Constitutional Court had denied Filat the right to form a new government, Foreign Minister I. Leancă, a PLDM politician, was appointed interim prime minister on April 25, 2013. He succeeded in forming a new pro-European cabinet supported by the PLDM, PDM and the reform wing of the PL. The government led by Leancă was sworn in on May 31, 2013.
On March 4, 2016, the Constitutional Court declared the law passed in 2000, which introduced the election of the head of state by parliament, to be unconstitutional. The head of state therefore had to be determined by direct popular election for the first time since 1996. In this case, could I. Dodon, chairman of the pro-Russian Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) on 13. 11. 2016 in the runoff for the presidency with approx. 52.1% of the vote against Maia Sandu (born 1972), Chairman of the newly founded Action and Solidarity (PAS) party and candidate of the pro-European camp. Dodon was sworn in as President on December 23, 2016.
