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Republic of Moldova

Monthly Event Reports

July 2023 | Ministers replaced after airport shooting

Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean replaced the ministers of Interior, Education, and Development on 14 July. The ministers had resigned following a deadly gun attack at Chisinau Airport on 30 June, where a Tajik citizen killed two officers after being denied entry to Moldova. The resignation of Interior Minister, Ana Revenco, had been demanded by parliamentary opposition. However, the relation of the portfolios of ministers of Science and Education, and Infrastructure and Regional Development was not made publicly clear by the government.  

June 2023 | Chisinau holds country’s largest peaceful Pride

Moldova held the largest and most peaceful Pride march in its history on 18 June in Chisinau, where marchers far outnumbered counter-protesters, police presence was “less dense” than previous years, and no incidents of harassment were recorded. For the second year in a row, the march went on despite the mayor’s announcement that the city would not authorize the march – an authority that the mayor’s office does not hold. The improving climate for LGBTQIA+ rights in Moldova, including new legal protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in 2023, led to the country’s jump by fourteen places (one of the six countries with the biggest improvement) in ILGA-Europe’s Rainbow Map, a ranking of European countries’ LGBTQIA+ friendly laws and policies.

May 2023 | Gagauzia election delivers controversy

Shor Party candidate Evghenia Gutul was elected Bashkan (governor) of the Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia with 52 per cent of the vote in a run-off election on 14 May. Gutul ran on a platform of promoting closer ties to Russia and her election has raised concerns of increasing tensions between the central government and the Gagauz autonomous territory, where the overwhelming majority of the population are members of the Turkic-speaking Gagauz ethnic group. However, support for Gutul has been attributed to promises to bring economic development, and all eight candidates for office were openly pro-Russian. The election was marked by disputes between the central election commissions of Moldova and Gagauzia, and protests in the Gagauz capital of Comrat were sparked when anti-corruption officials seized voter lists as part of an electoral fraud investigation. Moldovan courts upheld the results of the election, despite citing electoral violations and evidence of bribery. Turnout for the first and second round were 61 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively, although observers alleged that voter rolls had been tampered with to push the official turnout above the necessary 50 per cent to validate the election.

April 2023 | Oligarch Ilan Shor sentenced in absentia

The exiled Moldovan oligarch and political party leader Ilan Shor was sentenced to 15 years in prison on 13 April for his role in the theft of about USD 1 billion in bank assets, or about 15 per cent of the country’s GDP, in 2015. The Moldovan parliament then stripped Shor of his parliamentary mandate on 27 April. Shor’s party, which holds six of parliament’s 101 seats, has organized large protests against inflation and the government’s support of Ukraine. These protests contributed to the resignation of the government in February 2023. The Moldovan government has argued the protests are the work of “criminal groups” and that protesters are being compensated to attend. Protesters interviewed by journalists have spoken openly about being transported to the capital on buses by the Shor Party and paid a daily rate to participate.

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GSoD Indices Data 2013-2022

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Basic Information

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Population Tooltip
2 573 930
System of government
Parliamentary system
Head of government
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița (since 2021)
Head of government party
Party of Action and Solidarity
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
40.6%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2021
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
2.79
Head of state
President Maia Sandu
Selection process for head of state
Direct election (two-round majority)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
28/01/2022
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
Signatory
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
Signatory
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
in
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Categories of Democratic Performance

Representation neutral Representation
Apr 2023
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
Apr 2023
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Annual value

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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