The Party of Action and Solidarity (, PAS) is a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

political party in Moldova This article lists a series of political parties, both historical and contemporary as well as active and inactive, from the politics of Moldova, Republic of Moldova. The Moldova, Republic of Moldova is a multi-party system, multi-party parliamen ...

. The PAS was founded by

Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 May 1972) is a Moldovan politician who is serving as the sixth president of Moldova since 2020. She is the founder and former leader of the Party of Action and Solidarity and was Prime Minister of Moldova, prime minister o ...

, the former

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

and the incumbent

president of Moldova The president of the Republic of Moldova () is the head of state of Moldova. The current president is Maia Sandu, who assumed office on 24 December 2020. Duties and functions The president "represents the State" and is "…the guarantor of n ...

. A

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

party, it is an observer of the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

(EPP) and the

International Democracy Union The International Democracy Union (IDU; known as the International Democrat Union until September 2023) is an international alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties. Headquartered in Munich, Germany, the IDU consists of 84 fu ...

(IDU).

History

Formation

The party was created amid the

2015–2016 protests in Moldova Starting in the spring of 2015, Moldova experienced large-scale protests amid a worsening economic situation and corruption scandals. The protests gained momentum in September, when up to 100,000 people demonstrated in the largest protest Popular F ...

and growing dissatisfaction with the ruling parties among citizens. On 23 December 2015,

posted a

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

video in which she announced her intention to form a new

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

. Her stated reason for doing so was the creation of a

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

party, that would function based on the principles of internal democracy and would be financed through small donations. Sandu was elected as leader of the PAS on 15 May 2016 and the party was officially registered by the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

on 26 May. At the time of registration, the party had 7,500 members and 20 local organizations. In February 2017, the party applied for membership of the

(EPP).

In coalition government: June 2019 – November 2019

In the

2019 Moldovan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 24 February 2019 in order to elect the 101 members of the Parliament of Moldova. The Constitution holds that elections are to be held no later than four years and three months from the date of inaug ...

, the PAS and the

Dignity and Truth Platform Party The Dignity and Truth Platform Party (, PPDA), stylized as Platforma DA or YES Platform, is a centre-right, liberal political party in Moldova promoting pro-Europeanism and anti-corruption. Established as the ''Force of the People Party'' in ...

formed the NOW Platform electoral alliance, which gathered 26.8% of the votes. After the alliance split into two separate

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

s, the PAS ended up with 15 seats. On 6 June, the Party announced that it was ready to form a coalition government with the pro-Russian

Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova The Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (, PSRM) is a democratic socialist political party in Moldova. A populist party, it holds Eurosceptic and Russophilia, Russophilic views, both of which are reflected by its long-time leader and ...

(PSRM) with the goal of freeing state institutions, which in their opinion were under oligarchic control. After the coalition was formed, PSRM leader

Zinaida Greceanîi Zinaida Greceanîi (; born 7 February 1956Page on Greceanii at government website
.) is a ...

was elected as Speaker of the Parliament and the

Sandu Cabinet The Sandu Cabinet was a six-month Cabinet of Moldova in later 2019, led by Maia Sandu of the Party of Action and Solidarity. History It was inaugurated on 8 June 2019, in the middle of the 2019 Moldovan constitutional crisis when the Constitutio ...

was inaugurated. Largely because of the significant ideological differences between the ruling parties, the government only lasted for five months and was ousted on 12 November after the PSRM and the

Democratic Party of Moldova The European Social Democratic Party (, PSDE) is a centre-left, populist Social democracy, social democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997, the party holds pro-European views, and is an associate member of the Party of European ...

voted in favor of a

motion of no confidence A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...

In opposition: November 2019 – July 2021

After the ousting of the Sandu cabinet, the PAS was in

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comedy ...

. In the

2020 Moldovan presidential election Presidential elections were held in Moldova on 1 November. The fourth direct elections since independence in 1991, voters had the possibility to either elect a new president or re-elect the incumbent Igor Dodon. Because no candidate received a ma ...

, the party's candidate and leader Sandu was elected as

President of Moldova The president of the Republic of Moldova () is the head of state of Moldova. The current president is Maia Sandu, who assumed office on 24 December 2020. Duties and functions The president "represents the State" and is "…the guarantor of n ...

. According to Moldovan law, the president cannot be a member of a political party which resulted in Sandu resigning from the office of party president and renouncing her party membership. Until the next party congress, the post of PAS president is held by first vice president

Igor Grosu Igor Grosu (born 30 November 1972) is a Moldova, Moldovan politician who is the President of the Moldovan Parliament, President of the Parliament of Moldova since 29 July 2021. He has been a member of the Parliament of Moldova, Moldovan Parliamen ...

on an interim basis.

In majority government: July 2021 – present

The PAS won by a landslide during the

2021 Moldovan parliamentary election Snap parliamentary elections were held in Moldova on 11 July 2021. Following the resignation of Ion Chicu, the position of Prime Minister became vacant, with the Parliament being obligated to form a new government within three months. After the ...

, earning them 63 seats in the parliament.

was elected the President of the Moldovan Parliament. On 6 August 2021,

Natalia Gavrilița Natalia Gavrilița (; born 21 September 1977) is a Moldovan economist and politician who served as prime minister of Moldova from 2021 until her resignation in February 2023 after failure to get her reform package enacted.

was voted by 61 MPs as the

Prime Minister of Moldova The prime minister of Moldova () is Moldova's head of government. The prime minister is formally appointed by the president of Moldova and exercises executive power along with the Cabinet of Moldova, cabinet, subject to Parliament of Moldova, p ...

and she became the second PAS Prime Minister of Moldova, after Maia Sandu (2019). In early 2022, the party will hold a leadership election and is also expected to nominate a candidate for the

2023 Chișinău mayoral elections 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

Political positions

The PAS has been widely described as a

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

party that adheres to

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...

social liberalism Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...

, and

economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberalism ...

Economic policies

According to its program, the PAS supports the idea of an economy "based on private initiative" and is in favor of a "significant reduction of bureaucracy in all stages of business". In the

campaign, the party's candidate Maia Sandu proposed raising the

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

to 2,000 lei (around 114

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

Foreign policy

A member of the

(EPP), the PAS supports membership of Moldova in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

, establishing a strategic partnership with the United States, and maintaining a normal and non-confrontational relationship with Russia. The party supports strengthening Moldova's relationship with Romania but does not explicitly endorse the

unification of Moldova and Romania The unification of Moldova and Romania is the idea that Moldova and Romania should become a single sovereign state and the political movement which seeks to bring it about. Beginning during the Revolutions of 1989 (including the Romanian Revolut ...

Leadership

Current leadership positions

– President; President of the Parliament *

Artur Mija Artur Mija (born 7 November 1990) is a Moldovan politician. He served as member of the Moldovan parliament from 2021 until 2023. He is the current Secretary General of the Government of Moldova. He is a member of the Party of Action and Solidari ...

– Secretary General; Secretary General of the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

Mihai Popșoi Mihail (Mihai) Popșoi (born 10 March 1987) is a Moldovan politician currently serving as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova. From 2019 to 2024 he served as the Vice President of the Moldovan Parliament. Since 10 ...

– Vice President; Deputy Prime Minister,

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

* Vladimir Bolea – Vice President; Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Infrastructure and Regional Development *

Dan Perciun Dan Perciun (born 7 July 1991) is a Moldovan politician. He is the current Minister of Education and Research of Moldova. References 1991 births Living people Moldovan MPs 2019–2021 Moldovan MPs 2021–2025 {{Moldova-politici ...

– Vice President; Minister of Education and Research * Doina Gherman – Vice President; Vice President of the Parliament *

Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei Liliana Nicolaescu-Onofrei (born 6 November 1968) is a Moldovan politician. She served as Minister of Education, Culture and Research from 8 June 2019 to 14 November 2019 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Maia Sandu Maia Sandu (; born 24 Ma ...

– Vice President; MP *

Radu Marian Radu Marian may refer to: * Radu Marian (politician) (born 1990), Moldovan politician * Radu Marian (sopranist) Radu Marian (; born 1977) is a Moldovans, Moldovan male soprano (sopranist). He possesses a pure soprano voice in the range of C4 to ...

– Vice President; MP *

Veronica Roșca Veronica Roșca (born 3 February 1982) is a Moldovan jurist and politician. She currently serves as Member of the Moldovan Parliament. She is the Vice President of PAS and the Vice President of its parliamentary faction. References Living p ...

– Vice President; MP * Lilian Carp – Vice President; MP * Larisa Voloh – Vice President; MP * Sergiu Litvinenco – Vice President * Adrian Băluțel – Vice President; Chief of Staff to the

* Virgiliu Pîslariuc – Vice President; MP * Ina Coșeru – Vice President; MP * Ion Groza – Vice President; MP

Election results

Chișinău mayoral elections

Chișinău Municipal Council elections

Local elections

Mayors

References

{{Moldovan political parties 2016 establishments in Moldova Liberal parties in Moldova Anti-communist parties Parties related to the European People's Party Political parties established in 2016 Pro-European political parties in Moldova