The Pridnestrovie Communist Party (PCP),

Moldovan Cyrillic The Moldovan Cyrillic alphabet is a Cyrillic alphabet designed for the Romanian language spoken in the Soviet Union ( Moldovan) and was in official use from 1924 to 1932 and 1938 to 1989 (and still in use today in the breakaway Moldovan regio ...

: , uk, Придністровська комуністична партія is a

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featu ...

in the unrecognized state of

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

. The party was led by

Oleg Khorzhan Oleg Olegovich Khorzhan (russian: Олег Олегович Хоржан; born 30 June 1976) is a Transnistrian lawyer and politician who previously served as the chairman of the Pridnestrovie Communist Party and as a member of Transnistria's S ...

until his arrest and imprisonment in 2018. The party newspaper is the Russian-language biweekly ''Pravda Pridnestrovya''. It is printed in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and sold locally in Transnistria; digital copies are also available online.

History

The PCP first fielded candidates in the 2005 legislative election but did not win any seats.

Nadezhda Bondarenko Nadezhda Andreevna Bondarenko (russian: Надежда Андре́евна Бондаренко; born 19 October 1950) is a Transnistrian politician who has served as the acting chairperson of the Pridnestrovie Communist Party (PCP) since late 2 ...

, an editor of the official party newspaper ''Pravda Pridnestrovya'' and a member of the party's

central committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party organizations, the ...

, was the PCP's candidate in the 2006 presidential election. She received 8.1% of the vote, coming second to Smirnov, who won his fourth term in office with 82.4% of the vote. Khorzhan and Bondarenko were arrested on 11 March 2007 while handing out leaflets ahead of an anti-Smirnov rally, and were sentenced to three-day's detention as an administrative punishment. Two days later on 13 March, a communist demonstration took place in the capital

Tiraspol Tiraspol or Tirișpolea ( ro, Tiraspol, Moldovan Cyrillic: Тираспол, ; russian: Тира́споль, ; uk, Тирасполь, Tyraspol') is the capital of Transnistria (''de facto''), a breakaway state of Moldova, where it is the th ...

against growing consumer prices and energy tariffs. Demonstrators also demanded the release of the two detained PCP leaders. During

Yevgeny Shevchuk Yevgeny Vasilyevich Shevchuk (russian: Евге́ний Васи́льевич Шевчу́к, tr. ''Yevgeniy Vasilyevich Shevchuk'', uk, Євге́н Васи́льович Шевчу́к, tr. ''Yevhen Vasylovych Shevchuk'', Moldovan Cyrillic ...

's term as

President of Transnistria , insignia = , insigniasize = , insigniacaption = , insigniaalt = , flag = Presidential Standard of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.svg , flagsize = 100 ...

from 2011 to 2016, PCP legislative members supported nearly all of his initiatives, even unpopular ones such as the reduction of government salaries and pensions by 30%. Party leaders insisted however, that they were legitimate opposition to Shevchuk, and rejected accusations of being fake opposition. Transnistrian authorities arrested Khorzhan again on 6 June 2018, this time for allegedly assaulting law enforcement. Several other party members had been arrested by authorities prior to Khorzhan, including his wife, his son, and Tiraspol city council deputy Alexander Samoniy. On 3 November 2018, the Supreme Court of Transnistria found Khorzan guilty of his alleged crimes, and he was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and ordered to pay a hefty fine.

Electoral results

Parliamentary

Presidential

Notes

References

External links

* {{Transnistrian political parties Communist parties in Moldova Political parties in Transnistria Communism in Transnistria