Moldova
Moldova
The second smallest of the former members of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Moldova is a landlocked country measuring 33,843 square kilometers (13,063 square miles). In 2004 the country had an estimated population of almost 4.5 million people. Moldova's neighbors include Ukraine to the north, northeast, and east and Romania to the west. The country was part of Romania prior to the USSR, which it joined after World War II (1939–1945), and ethnic Moldovans are generally recognized as descended from the same peoples as ethnic Romanians. Almost 65 percent of the country's population is ethnic Moldovan, and ethnic Russians and Ukrainians each comprise about 13 percent of the population. Many citizens still closely identify with Romanian language and culture. The people of Moldova are overwhelmingly Eastern Orthodox, which is practiced by 98 percent of the population.
Along with other former Soviet Republics, Moldova declared independence from the USSR in 1991. Immediately people in the geographic region known as Transnistria declared an independent republic as well, due to political disagreements based on ethnic tension. The ethnic Russian and Ukrainian citizens of the region faced concerns over a political effort advocating re-unification with Romania. The Transnistria region is separated from the rest of Moldova not only by this ethnic dispute but also by natural geography, which has resulted in a literal and political divide from the rest of the country. Transnistria was the cause of a brief war over this secessionist movement from Moldova in the early 1990s. The area remains plagued with political conflict.
In 1992 Moldova joined the United Nations. In 1994 a new constitution was formally adopted, establishing the country as a republic. Moldova is a poor country struggling to maintain a free market economy. In 2001, when Vladimir Voronin (b. 1941) was elected, Moldova became the first former Soviet nation to elect a member of the Communist Party to the position of president post-independence.
All citizens eighteen years old and older can vote. Political power in the country is shared among the president, cabinet, parliament, and judiciary. The president is elected by parliament, rather than by popular vote, for four-year terms. To win, a candidate must receive a clear majority of votes, and thus political support, from parliament, a unicameral body of 101 members who serve four-year terms. In 2004, President Voronin as well as a majority of parliament were members of the Communist Party.
The prime minister is chosen by the president and appointed on parliamentary approval. The prime minister serves as head of government and appoints a cabinet, the Council of Ministers, which must also be approved by the parliament. The government, led by the Council of Ministers, carries out domestic and foreign policy for the country. Under this system, the president is the dominant political figure.
The judicial system is based on a civil law system. A constitutional court reviews government policies to determine and maintain constitutional consistency. A system of general courts leads to the Supreme Court, the highest court for nonconstitutional actions. According to the U.S. Department of State, the political independence of the judicial system is questionable.
Amnesty International has reported cases of human rights abuses in Moldova, including torture, withholding legal representation from political detainees, and the trafficking of women. Politically motivated arrests, detentions, and disappearances have also been reported. These and other problems led Freedom House to rate Moldova as a 3 and 4 on its 7-point scales for political rights and civil liberties, respectively, and summarized Moldova as a "partly free" nation.
bibliography
Fedor, Helen, ed. Belarus and Moldova Country Studies. Lanham, MD: Bernan, 1996.
Freedom House. "Moldova." Freedom in the World 2004. New York: Freedom House, 2004. <http://www.freedomhouse.org/research/freeworld/2004/countryratings/moldova.htm>.
Kort, Michael G. The Handbook of the Former Soviet Union. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1996.
"Moldova." CIA World Factbook. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2005. <http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/md.html>.
U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. "Moldova." Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2003. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2004. <http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27854.htm>.
Andrea Rogers