A referendum on remaining an independent nation was held in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

on 6 March 1994.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1330 Initiated by President Mircea Snegur, it was referred to as a "Consultation with the people" (), and was approved by 97.9% of voters.Nohlen & Stöver, p1339

Question

Legality issues

The referendum was organized by a specially created republican commission after the Central Elections Commission refused to become involved. However, its organization was in contravention of the 1992 referendums law, which stated that a referendum commission should have been formed by Parliament 60 days before the referendum, and no referendums should be held 90 days either side of elections (the parliamentary elections had been held a week earlier).

Results

Aftermath

Many public figures and much of the press presented the referendum as a strong blow to the movement for unification of Moldova and Romania in both countries, despite the fact that the question did not refer directly to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, but to independence. It also referred to territorial integrity, which was a main preoccupation due to the Transnistria conflict.

Notes

References

Political history of Moldova Referendums in Moldova

Referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...