BUCHAREST - Sometimes, democratic progress can be gauged with a ruler. Last Sunday in Moldova, it measured exactly 94.5 centimeters or almost 37 inches - the length of the ballot paper Moldovan voters were issued when they went to the polls for the third time in the last 19 months to elect a parliament. A total of 20 political parties and 19 independent candidates registered for the November 28 parliamentary elections, competing for 101 seats in the Moldovan legislature.
The citizens of Moldova - including those living abroad - acknowledged the importance of these elections with an impressive 59 percent voter turnout. In Moldova's capital, Chisinau, over 60 percent of those who were registered to vote went to cast their ballots on Sunday. A record number of people voted outside Moldova, too, forming long lines at Moldovan Embassies in Bucharest, Paris, and Moscow, clearly determined to exercise their constitutional right. International observers concluded that yesterday's early parliamentary elections in Moldova met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments and were administered in a transparent and impartial manner, having been held in a competitive and pluralistic environment.
Twenty-four hours later and after counting all the ballots, the final results placed the Communist Party of Moldova in the lead with 39 percent. Prime Minister Vlad Filat's Liberal Democratic Party came second with 29 percent and can be considered the winner of these elections, gaining an additional 13 percent on top of their vote in the July 2009 elections. Marian Lupu and his Democratic Party came out third with 12 percent, followed by the Liberal Party, led by Acting President Mihai Ghimpu, with just short of 10 percent. The Alliance Moldova Noastra, the fourth component of the pro-western Alliance for European Integration, did not garner enough votes to pass the 4-percent threshold and will not make it into the next legislature.
Although the Communist Party remains the largest faction in the next parliament with 42 MPs, the decrease in the Communists' support is noticeable. They have lost eighteen seats over the last three election cycles. The remaining three democratic parties combined will now have 59 seats. This would allow them to appoint the Prime Minister, as well as the next Speaker of the Parliament, but not the President, which would require a three-fifths majority of 61.
Following Sunday's elections, Moldova is in the same situation it has been for the last year-and-a-half. The previous two parliaments failed to elect a president. Now, since none of the parties represented in the future parliament has 61 votes, there will have to be yet another round of negotiations. Members of the Alliance for European Integration have said on a number of occasions that they would like to preserve the alliance after the elections, despite having conducted separate electoral campaigns. Prime Minister Filat, now heading the second-largest party in the next parliament with 32 MPs, has already invited his former coalition partners, Marian Lupu and Mihai Ghimpu, to discuss the next steps. The leader of the Communist Party and former president of Moldova, Vladimir Voronin, also has voiced his willingness to discuss future governing coalitions with Lupu and with Filat as possible partners, but ruled out any potential partnership with the Acting President Ghimpu and his party.
Filat has made it clear that a coalition with the Communists is out of the question for him and his Liberal Democratic Party. The Democratic Party of Marian Lupu is only eligible for 15 seats in the next parliament. But Lupu (himself a former Communist) has indicated that he is willing to consider cooperation with the Communists. This gives his Democrats the biggest bargaining power in future post-electoral governing structures. Lupu has publicly declared his aspirations to become the next president of Moldova. Still, the Democrats and the Communists together will only have 57 votes-so they will need the Liberals' support.
Despite these uncertain coalition prospects (and the possibility of a renewed blockade), these elections do demonstrate that Moldova is striving for democratic maturity. The decrease in support for the pro-Russian Communist Party, as well as the growing number of voters who favor the Western-oriented democratic parties show that Moldovan society is changing. This has not gone unnoticed by the international community there, which is showing support. Only last week, the EU agreed to allocate Moldova 41 million euros to help build state institutional capacity, along with an additional 79 million euros to support Moldova's business environment, create new jobs, and transfer experience and expertise from European institutions. These are concrete examples that Moldova is on the right track. Now, Moldovan politicians need to realize that lingering political crises are no longer allowed if Moldova's wish to become part of the European political family is to be taken seriously.