The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (often abbreviated to ADR) was a governing coalition 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. ...

between numerous non-

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

parties which had

absolute majority A majority is more than half of a total; however, the term is commonly used with other meanings, as explained in the " Related terms" section below. It is a subset of a set consisting of more than half of the set's elements. For example, if a gr ...

in the

Moldovan Parliament The parliament of the Republic of Moldova () is the supreme representative body of the Republic of Moldova, the only state legislative authority, being a unicameral structure composed of 101 elected MPs on lists, for a period or legislature of ...

after the 1998 parliamentary election.

The overall context

At the

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

on March 22, 1998, the

Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (, PCRM) is a communist party in Moldova led by Vladimir Voronin. It is the only communist party to have held a majority government in a post-Soviet state. It has been variously described as Com ...

(PCRM) gained 40 of the 101 places in the

, but was reduced to opposition when an Alliance for Democracy and Reforms was formed by the

Democratic Convention of Moldova The Democratic Convention of Moldova (, CDM) was a political alliance in Moldova. History The CDM was formed in 1997,Andrei Brezianu & Vlad Spânu (2007) ''Historical Dictionary of Moldova'', Scarecrow Press, p115 in order to contest the March ...

(26 MPs), For a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova (24 MPs), and the

Party of Democratic Forces The Party of Democratic Forces (, PFD) was a political party in Moldova. History The party was established in January 1993 as the Congress of Intellectuals, a breakaway from the Christian Democratic Popular Front (FPCD). The FPCD called for immed ...

(11 MPs). It is important that a former First Secretary of the

Communist Party of Moldavia The Communist Party of Moldavia (, PCM, Moldovan Cyrillic: ; ) was the ruling and sole legal political party of the Moldavian SSR. It was one of the fifteen republic-level parties that formed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) until ...

(PCM),

Petru Lucinschi Petru Lucinschi (; born 27 January 1940) is a former Moldovan politician who was Moldova's second President from 1997 to 2001. He currently serves as the founder and head of the Lucinschi Foundation of Strategic Studies and International Relat ...

, was the

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 ...

during the activity of The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR).

Activity

The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR) government was formed as a result of complex negotiations between democratic parties and was the first coalition government in the history of independent

. The ADR government included representatives of all political parties which were members of the coalition. The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms had three

Prime Ministers A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but rat ...

. The activity of the second government of

Ion Ciubuc Ion Ciubuc (; 29 May 1943 – 29 January 2018) was a Moldovan economist and politician who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Moldova from January 1997 to February 1999. Biography Ion Ciubuc was born on 29 May 1943 in the village of Hădără ...

(May 22, 1998 – February 1, 1999), the acting government of

Serafim Urechean Serafim Urechean (born 2 February 1950) is a Moldovan politician. He held the position of general mayor of Chișinău municipality (1994–2005) and interim prime minister of the Republic of Moldova (5 – 17 February 1999). He was the chairman of ...

(February 5–17, 1999), and the government of

Ion Sturza Ion Sturza (born 9 May 1960) is a Moldovan politician and businessman who served as Prime Minister of Moldova from 19 February to 12 November 1999. On 21 December 2015, President Nicolae Timofti nominated Ion Sturza to occupy the position of prim ...

(February 19–November 9, 1999) were marked by chronic political instability, which prevented a coherent reform program. Foreign policy was marked by a duality of belonging to the CIS and steps towards a rapprochement with

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. The

Christian Democratic Popular Front The Christian-Democratic People's Party (, PPCD) is a Christian-democratic political party in Moldova. The party was led by Iurie Roșca from 1994 until 2011. Until 2005, the PPCD and the (Moldovan) National Liberal Party were the main politica ...

(PPCD) voted with the Communist Party (PCRM) for the dismissal of the Alliance government on November 9, 1999. Disagreements that appeared within the Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR), caused to some degree by displeasure with seat distributions, led to its disintegration and an overwhelming Party of Communists (PCRM) victory at the 2001 parliamentary election. In the next decade, the Party of Communists (PCRM) used very successfully the incoherent activity of the Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (ADR) for discrediting any form of

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

formed without them. Their constant criticism of the future

Alliance For European Integration The Alliance for European Integration () was a centre-right, anti-communist coalition that governed Moldova from the July 2009 election until it lost to a no confidence vote in the Parliament on February 13, 2013. It was succeeded by the anti-co ...

(AIE) is a good example.

References

External links

Governments Take Hard Hits to Qualify for World Bank Loans
{{Moldovan political parties Defunct political party alliances in Moldova 1998 in Moldova 1999 in Moldova Coalition governments