The European Partnership for Democracy is delighted to
invite you to a post-elections policy
debriefing on : "Where is Moldova Heading?".
On the 28th of
November 2010, the Republic of Moldova held early parliamentary elections. In
the last 18 months Moldova has been undergoing a political crisis. A referendum
to amend the constitution failed to provide a clear solution to the political
deadlock. Without a stable government Moldova risks delaying further the
adoption of necessary reforms.
Did Moldova pass the
democratic test of holding free and fair elections? Will the results of
elections finally put an end to the political stalemate? Will there be a
continuity of the governing Alliance for European integration or will there be
a shift in state policies? What are the implications for Moldova's relations
with the EU and its neighbouring countries? How this affects the EU-Moldova
agenda? Click here for Invitation - Click here for Programme
Moldova's
constitutional referendum, held on September 5, has failed due to lacking a
quorum of 33,33%, with only 30,29% of voter turnout. As a consequence of the non
valid referendum, the Moldovan Parliament is about to be dissolved and snap
parliamentary elections should take place most likely in November 2010. The result of
the constitutional referendum has exposed the limits of constitutional reform
as a mechanism to overcome a political deadlock. Indeed, the failure of the
constitutional referendum in Moldova proves that in a functioning democracy
there is not such a thing as partisan constitution-making (never mind how good
the proposal might be). Read the article
Please see also the article about the EPD co-funding of 7 projects in Moldova. Link.
Through the initiative launched in June 2010 by EPD and EEF under the
European Partnership Fair for Civil Society Organizations in Moldova came to a
successful conclusion this week. From the 139 projects that were submitted 7
projects were selected to be funded by the Basket Fund. These projects
underlined the EU-Moldova sustainable partnership to allow for the exchange of
ideas and the support and strengthening of Moldova's transition to democracy.
The Partnership Fair that took place in Moldova
on the 15 and 16 of June, organized by the European Partnership for Democracy,
the East European Foundation and "Promolex" organization, had the positive
outcome that 7 of the most original and innovative projects were selected for
funding under the Basket Fund. These projects ranged from a cleaner environment
to more transparency to social youth activism. This could not have been
possible without the Basket Fund's financial supporters : the EEF, National
Endowment for Democracy (NED) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Czech
Republic. More information on www.partnershipfair.eu
The European Partnership Fair for Civil Society Organizations in Moldova took place for the first time in Chisinau, on June 15-16 2010. The event was organized by EPD in cooperation with East Europe Foundation (EEF) and „Promo-LEX" Association. More information.
The
European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), the East Europe Foundation
(EEF) and Promo-LEX have the pleasure to announce the organization of
European Partnership Fair for Civil Society Organizations in Moldova
which will take place in Chisinau, Moldova on June 15 and 16, 2010. The
three organizations joined their efforts with the goal of bringing more
European organizations and donors to Moldova to work with local partner
organizations in strengthening the country's fledgling democracy, show
support for its pro-European agenda and share valuable experience
gained from other European transitions to democracy. More info.
Vlad Filat, the newly elected Prime Minister of Moldova, visited the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday (29 Sept). He held a meeting with Jerzy Buzek, President of the new European Parliament, and took questions from the Parliament's External Affairs Committee. The EPD has been following events in Moldova closely this year, monitoring elections, reporting back to Brussels decision makers on events taking place in the country and helping to strengthen EU support for Moldova's transition. Read more about the PM's visit.
The Brussels-based democracy assistance organization European Partnership for Democracy (EPD) has the pleasure of introducing its report on the current developments in Moldova entitled “Moldova’s Early Elections: A Transition in Need of Support”. As part of the EPD series of Working Papers on Democracy Assistance, Kristina Prunerova, Programme Manager responsible for the Post-soviet region, reports on the state of political affairs in the Republic of Moldova after the two parliamentary elections held in 2009. The first elections, held in April, were followed by demonstrations and a violent crackdown by the authorities, which resulted in a political stalemate and fresh elections in July. These saw opposition parties together win more than 50% of the vote and, at the time of writing, were negotiating to create a coalition government that would drive forward Moldova’s transition to democracy. In this study Ms. Prunerova analyses the situation between the regular and early elections in spring this year, outlines the main challenges in the post-election period and proposes what more the international community needs to do to assist Moldova at this fragile stage in its democratic evolution. Read the full report here.
As part of the EPD's close monitoring of the current situation in the Republic of Moldova we produce a weekly round-up of the most important news stories to help keep decision makers and interested parties informed. Click here to catch up on past editions.
There may be new people in power but there is still plenty of work to be done in Moldova. In a letter to the European Voice, the EPD's Kristina Prunerova outlines the challenges that lie ahead of the Republic of Moldova after two bouts of parliamentary elections this year. Click here to read Kristina's article.
The European Partnership for Democracy has been closely following the developments in Moldova after parliamentary elections in April. The announcement of the election results led to demonstrations in Chisinau with crowds of young people feeling they were cheated and somebody had "stolen their vote", and they demanded a change in the government, believing that most of the country really voted for change but that the results were rigged. The demonstrations led to riots, attacks on the parliament and presidential palace and a subsequent crackdown by the government against youths, media and opposition parties. It is estimated that over 700 people were detained during April 6th and 7th and in its aftermath, many of them beaten and harassed and forced to sign a declaration that they had staged a coup d'état. Read the full article.
On July 29 the Republic of Moldova held early parliamentary elections. The Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova has gained the largest share of votes of 44.69%, followed by the Liberal Democratic Party with 16.7%; the Liberal Party with 14.68% and the Democratic Party with 12.54%. The fifth party to overcome the threshold of 5 percent is Moldova Noastra Alliance with 7.35% and these 5 forces will be present in the new Parliament. Full report.
On Monday Jul 20th, 2009 ALDE group of the
European Parliament organized an event, into which EPD took part, on the situation in Moldova in the light
of upcoming early elections to be held on July 29th 2009. Over 80
people gathered on this occasion to hear some of the voices coming from Moldova
commenting on the current political situation in Moldova which is part of both
the European Neighborhood Policy and Eastern Partnership - two significant
policies of the EU towards its neighboring countries. More...
Four representatives of Moldovan civil society organizations visited Brussel between June 16 and 18 and held meetings with various European institutions' representatives about the current political crisis in Moldova. The EPD has supported their initiative and organized their meetings in Brussels. Please see memorandum from their visit here.
Results of Moldova's parliamentary elections on 5 April 2009 led to the confrontation between the governing authorities in Moldova, represented solely by the Communist Party of Moldova, and the population of the country. The first protests in Moldova, which took place on 7 April 2009 were, according to the opposition leaders and civil society, spontaneous and violent, and were not organized or led by the opposition. By the end of the day on 7 April 2009, 295 people were arrested, among which one person died allegedly due to severe beating by the police. On 8 April 2009 the civil society of Moldova issued a declaration on the 2009 Coalition of NGOs, which was promptly signed and sent out to civil society organizations in the European Union and neighbouring countries. The opposition leaders called for conciliatory forms of protests and the Leader of Liberal Party and Mayor of Moldova signed the permission to hold peaceful demonstrations in Chisinau between April 10 through April 29, which were supposed to keep demonstrators in designed areas and only until 9 pm. Read the full report.
Following our Statement on the Political Crisis in Moldova (10 April 2009), new signs have emerged indicating a severe political deterioration in the country, in particular the increasingly anti-democratic nature of the political regime in Moldova. The government authorities are now impeding the work of independent civil society and independent media at a time when independent voices are essential to witness and investigate human rights abuses carried out by the police authorities cine the elections of 5 April 2009. Please read the statement made by PASOS to the European Parliament, the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the Czech Government, Presidency of the Council of the European Union. More reports on Moldova.
Results of Moldova's parliamentary elections on 5 April 2009 led to the confrontation between the governing authorities in Moldova, represented solely by the Communist Party of Moldova, and the population of the country. The first protests in Moldova, which took place on 7 April 2009 were, according to the opposition leaders and civil society, spontaneous and violent, and were not organized or led by the opposition. By the end of the day on 7 April 2009, 295 people were arrested, among which one person died allegedly due to severe beating by the police. On 8 April 2009 the civil society of Moldova issued a declaration on the 2009 Coalition of NGOs, which was promptly signed and sent out to civil society organizations in the European Union and neighbouring countries. The opposition leaders called for conciliatory forms of protests and the Leader of Liberal Party and Mayor of Moldova signed the permission to hold peaceful demonstrations in Chisinau between April 10 through April 29, which were supposed to keep demonstrators in designed areas and only until 9 pm.
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