Explainer - How Does Moldova’s Government Work?

Trying to unpack some of the structures underlying the current political crisis

Welcome to our first “Explainer” at Moldova Matters! In this format, we will look at the background and history of some structural part of Moldova’s political or economic landscape. The goal is to provide context for people who may not be familiar with these issues in the Moldovan context. As with the Weekly Roundup my goal is to provide understanding on an issue and not to simply express my opinions on it. That said, while this is not an op-ed it is not a news roundup either. My choices to focus on certain areas and not others reflect a desire to keep this to a manageable length and use editorial discretion to focus on what I think are key issues to understanding the system for those outside of Moldova. 

In today’s “Explainer” we are going to take a brief look at how Moldova’s government is organized and look for insights into the political crisis unfolding now (for more on this look to last week’s Weekly Roundup.” I want to stress that this is not meant to be a thorough history of Moldova’s government since independence - that may be the topic for an entire book. Instead, we will focus on how things work now and the developments of the last few years that brought us to this point. While I consider myself an astute political observer and well read on the topic I am by no means an authority - if you notice a mistake or a missed opportunity for context please let me know at dave.in.moldova@gmail.com!

The Basics….

The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova outlines a Parliamentary Republic with four key institutions. A legislature, Parliament, with 101 deputies elected by the people. An independent Judiciary with a Constitutional Court. An Executive Branch in the form of a Government of Ministers led by the Prime Minister and appointed by the Parliament. And a Head of State in the form of the President. As in many Parliamentary systems where the Head of Government (Prime Minister) and the Head of State (President) are separate offices the Presidency is a far weaker branch with fewer governing powers. Through this explainer we will go through each of these institutions and talk a little bit about how they are empowered by the people to run the country. Our focus will try and stay on ways in which they differ from other nations or what people may expect - don’t worry, this is not a civics class. 

Parliament - how is it elected?

Until recently, Parliament was elected under a “Party List Proportional Representation System.” This means that when a voter goes to the polls they vote for a political party from a list of parties that have successfully registered for the election. In Moldova’s case the ballot is often quite long with 50+ parties listed. Each party has put forward a list of 101 candidates in ranked order. Seats were allocated in Parliament to all parties that got above a set threshold of (previously 6%) based on their vote share. So a party that gets 24% of the vote would get approximately 24 seats in Parliament corresponding to their top 24 candidates on the party list. We won’t dwell on the pros and cons of such a system for too long (though it makes a great wikipedia quest), but this system is considered a strong best practice in Europe and leads to a diverse set of parties in Parliament (as opposed to first-past-the-post systems in the US and UK that encourage two party systems). 

In 2017 the Moldovan Government, controlled at the time by Oligarch Vlad Plahotnuic, attempted to change the electoral system to a Uninominal System (single mandate system) roughly comparable to the US and UK. In this system, all MPs would be elected by district with the candidate with a plurality (not majority) of votes winning the election. This resulted in a major debate in Moldovan society about the pros and cons of such a move with many groups claiming this was an attempt by an unpopular Plahotnuic to change the rules of elections to ones more favorable to him ahead of the 2019 elections. For a history of this process and the opposition to it see this good summary by CPR Moldova. 

After much political wrangling and protests by opposition groups, President Dodon and the parties controlled by Plahotnuic settled on a “mixed system” whereby 51 of 100 members of parliament are selected in Uninominal Districts, while the other half are selected on a party list. This system, which was used in the 2018 election and remains in effect today, means that voters must select a representative for their electoral district, and a party on their ballot. One interesting aspect of this system is that it created 3 electoral districts for the Moldovan Diaspora living abroad - one for the USA and Canada, one for Western Europe, and one roughly corresponding to the former USSR but also including China and some other neighbors. You can see these constituencies and the results of the last election on interactive maps on the Central Election Commission's website (Moldova Map, International Constituencies Map). In an odd way, this means that there is a member of the Moldovan Parliament representing the territory of the US and Canada, or at least the Moldovans living there. 

Overall, this system is still hotly debated with multiple parties and President Sandu hoping to revert to the former system of proportional representation in the future, most likely, following the next election. 

Ok, so when do elections happen?

Well, we have discussed this much in the past weekly Roundups but let me summarize here - but this is a rough summary for brevity’s sake. Firstly, Parliament is elected for a 4 year term. Once the election is done, if no party has an outright 51 member majority necessary to form a Government, the various parties go through rounds of consultations to form a government. If parties cannot successfully form a majority the President appoints a Prime Minister to form a government and go to Parliament for a vote of confidence. If the President's candidate(s) fail this test twice early elections are called. Usually this process is around 3 months. 

Similarly, if a government falls - aka the 51 member majority breaks up its coalition, consultations are started and the same process plays out. This can either lead to a new coalition and new Government or early elections. 

In practice, Moldova often sees early elections and has been even more unstable in terms of Governments. Since independence, Moldova has had 19 Prime Ministers (including acting prime ministers) averaging a new government every 1.5 years or so. One reason for this is the phenomenon of Members of Parliament changing parties very frequently. You would think this is rather difficult given that they are hand selected by their party onto the party list, but it turns out to be quite easy when large sums of money change hands. Last year an MP was actually kidnapped (allegedly) by his own party after announcing a party switch. He showed up some time later in a vineyard saying he was “hello friends, I am well and healthy and not being kidnapped by anyone, I just needed some peace.” 

The Government - How is the Executive Branch Elected?

The Government of Ministers of Moldova, similar to such bodies in most Parliamentary Systems, represent the executive branch of the Moldovan system. Led by the Prime Minister the Government is made up of Ministers of Finance, Economy, Defense and more. They handle day to day functioning of the government and propose legislation to Parliament. In order to form a Government, a Parliamentary Majority (51 votes) selects a candidate for Prime Minister and asks the President to approve the candidacy for a vote in Parliament. Currently, it is not known what happens when the President refuses to do this and that is the crux of the political crisis unfolding now. If the President did approve the candidacy, the prospective Prime Minister would form a cabinet of ministers and present themselves to Parliament along with a Program of Action for a vote of confidence. If they attain 51 votes the Government is established. 

One peculiar aspect of the Moldovan system is that none of these ministers, including the Prime Minister, are required to be members of Parliament first. Further, they are required NOT to be members of Parliament when in office in the ministries (meaning if they are in Parliament they must resign to serve in Government). This is a major difference from something like the UK system where the Government is drawn from the Parliament. In practice, Moldovan Prime Ministers and other Ministers are most often not drawn from Parliament and, with the exception of Maia Sandu, most of the recent Prime Ministers were plucked from relative obscurity to enjoy the top job in Moldovan government. 

This creates a somewhat strange dynamic in Moldovan Politics as no voters have ever elected these Prime Ministers to any office. This means that traditional political experience is not at all a prerequisite to being Prime Minister and that they are not directly accountable to the voters. This is especially true when parties nominate “Technocratic” governments such as that of Prime Minister Ion Chicu who just stepped down in December. When he was appointed by President Dodon Chicu was said to be a non-political technocrat. This means that, while he had the technical support of multiple political factions, none of them felt the need to be “responsible” for the executive branch in a political sense. President Dodon’s Socialists could always say - he isn’t a member of our party, he’s just a technocratic outsider!

In my analysis, this has created part of the instability we are seeing in Moldova today. This is because many voters feel that they have little real say in what goes on at the top of the Government. In a Democracy, citizens desire (and deserve) a sense of control and in Moldova this means people focusing their hopes and much perceived responsibility on the President whom they directly elected. With the dynamic between Prime Minister Chicu and President Dodon, this was on full display during the Presidential election where Dodon plastered billboards all over the country with the slogan “The President is Responsible” (a dubious choice to claim full responsibility for the calamity of 2020. And one that did not work for him electorally).

So what responsibility does the President have? Well….

The Presidency

Up until 2016 the President of the Republic of Moldova was selected by a supermajority 61 person vote in Parliament. Some years, this resulted in a compromise Head of State acceptable to all parties. From Sept 2009 to March 2012 it resulted in no Head of State as parties could not compromise and instead various interim office holders rotated through the position. 

In 2016 this system was changed unilaterally by the Constitutional Court to provide for direct presidential elections. This was done by overturning a 2000 law providing for Parliament to elect the President by a supermajority and returning to the provisions of the 1994 Constitution of Moldova which stipulated direct elections. The election is conducted in a two round system where the top two candidates from the first round proceed to a second round of the election. The change to direct elections resulted in the election of former President Dodon in November 2016 and, in a sense, the beginning of the crisis we are still playing out now. The elections of former President Dodon and current President Sandu are really the most direct political mandates that the Moldovan political system provides. In the Presidency, people elected a single person and program of action which contrasts sharply with a party list system or a Prime Minister and Government that are never directly elected. In a real sense, this means that the President winds up with the biggest political mandate in the various branches of government. So what can they do?

The Powers of the Presidency

Basically, there are few. The role is largely ceremonial and involves meetings with foriegn governments and heads of state but not being able to directly affect foriegn policy. The President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and has some responsibilities for state security as well. But the real power of the presidency is the bully-pulpit as the President’s position on any issue receives wide coverage in society. In that sense, while the position is mostly ceremonial it still does have some power.

In reality though, the gulf between the political mandate of the elected President and the political power they wield is vast. President Sandu’s current attempt to use her mandate to bring about Parliamentary elections is a pretty big flex of this limited power and the system is so far struggling to figure out how to cope with it. Stay tuned to the Weekly Roundups for coverage as that story unfolds. 

Ok, So what about the Judicial Branch?

No, we’re not doing the judiciary here today. The fact is simply that Moldova’s Judicial System is very opaque and I am in no way qualified to enlighten anyone on it. But I will be bringing in a guest voice to this newsletter in the not too distant future who will help me prepare an “Explainer” into how the Judicial System works, how it interacts with the other branches of government, and the state of reform in this area. Stay tuned! 

Bringing it all Together - How a Bill Becomes a Law

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Alright, so we’ve looked at various branches of government and how they get their mandates from the people. How do they interact? Well, you would think that it’s pretty straightforward… 

1. Parliament passes laws either at their own initiative or at the suggestion of the Government or President

2. The President signs or vetoes the legislation from Parliament

3. Once passed and signed into law, the Government (Executive Branch) implements the law and administers the country

This relationship, with some variations and much local nuance is basically how most government systems work in Europe. But in Moldova there are some oddities worth noting because they are critical to understanding how these branches interact. 

Parliament - Legislatures Without Much Ability to Legislate

While Parliament is the legislative branch theoretically, they lack what most Parliaments or legislative bodies require to work - a staff. Each member of Parliament has a budget for 1 staff member with allocated pay for just a basic administrative assistant. The pay (around 8000 lei / $450 in pocket) is insufficient for hiring much in the way of legal experts and 1 person is hardly much of a team anyhow. Members of Parliament at times write laws themselves, but just in the US Congress or any other legislative body most of them don’t have the expertise or specialization to do too much of this - not without a team. 

Ok, so who writes the laws?

Well, there are a couple of answers to this. Sometimes outside interests (lobbyists, international partners, development groups) assist. Sometimes the Political Parties fund legislative teams. But often, the expertise comes from the Government Ministries (executive branch) who have more expertise in their domains to propose reforms for themselves. Wait, you ask - they “reform themselves?” Well yes, and it works just about as well as you would assume. 

Ok, so the laws are written, but then the President signs them right?

Kinda yes. But in the case of former President Dodon, if he didn’t sign a law, Plahotnuic instructed the Constitutional Court to Dodon-Dodoff him, essentially replacing him for 5 minutes to pass the law anyhow. While this was certainly an abuse of the time of “State Capture” by Plahotnuic it happened so many times that it does underline a structural issue. That is because there is / was a school of thought that the Presidency is basically ceremonial. This tension goes back to the issues we have already talked about above and gets to the core question - what really IS the President’s role?

Fine, so the President signs it,  or not, or whatever, then the Government executes the law… right?

This you basically have right. But they have a reputation for slow rolling laws that aren’t of their own making. And anyone living in Moldova can tell you the vast difference between law and practice in almost every aspect of life. Need an example? Stamps have been optional on official documents for YEARS. But any business owner will tell you that there isn’t a single state ministry or agency entity that respects that law. Similar story with outlawing single use plastic bags and containers. Some progress has been made in the past few years but it has been VERY slow going since the law was passed in 2019.

Conclusions - why do you need to know all this?

In looking to summarize this Explainer, I think it’s important to highlight a few issues that are key to understanding the system as it exists and the interplay of forces causing the current political moment. 

• The President of Moldova has a far stronger political mandate than she has power to affect change directly

• The Government of Moldova has no political mandate or direct accountability to the people due to the fact that almost never are they politicians or elected in any way. In theory, this is fine because Parliament is responsible for them and they tend to represent some party or another. But in the last few years of crisis after crisis we have seen lots of talk about “technocratic” governments professing not to be related to parties at all. This further distances the Executive Branch from the people who look more and more to the President or local elections (mayors) for change. 

• This idea of “technocrats” is meant to make politics more palatable to the voters… but in a strange way makes the system work in a less representative way further alienating the voters and removing traditional democratic accountability. Thus, voters hate politicians more and look for more technocrats. Rinse and repeat. 

• The Government’s (executive’s) power is further enhanced by Parliament not adequately staffing itself to legislate. The Ministries have major sway in legislation and largely suggest ways to reform themselves. 

• Mayors in Moldova are some of the most trusted politicians in the country. We didn’t talk about local government today and will save that topic for a future Explainer, but the people seem to trust people they can elect to executive positions. Sadly, mayors are a bit more powerful than the President in their communities but not much. 

Wow, even after giving quite short-shrift to the Judiciary this was a long Explainer (I promise we’ll return to the Judiciary later!). And you’ll notice we didn’t touch on LOTS of other issues like Party financing that really matter to a topic like this. I’ll keep a running list and would love feedback as to what people want to hear about. Let me know!

If you made it all this way, please consider subscribing for all Moldova Matters content sent right to your inbox! And if you noticed I made some error here or failed to provide context (inevitable in such a long piece) please let me know! Email me at dave.in.moldova@gmail.com or comment right here!