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handle is hein.crs/govcamy0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 01;0i E.$~ & p\w -- , gnom goo mppm qq\ , q I as 11LIANJILiN, Updated March 9, 2020 Moldova: An Overview Moldova is one of three post-Soviet states together with Ukraine and Georgia that has sought greater integration with the West while dealing with separatist territories occupied by Russian forces. Many Members of Congress have long supported Moldova's democratic trajectory and territorial integrity and have called on Russia to respect Moldova's sovereignty and withdraw its military forces. R{ecent L)evehmen~ts In November 2019, a short-lived coalition government fell after one coalition partner, the socially conservative, Russian-leaning Party of Socialists, filed a motion of no confidence against the government of then-Prime Minister Maia Sandu. Sandu is the co-leader of ACUM (or Now), a reform-oriented, Western-leaning alliance. President Igor Dodon is the Party of Socialists' unofficial leader. The Socialists initiated the no-confidence vote after Sandu moved to give herself greater control over the appointment of the country's prosecutor-general. Sandu reportedly made the move because she feared Dodon and the Socialists were seeking to sabotage judicial reforms. From the outset, many observers were uncertain if the reformist Sandu and Russian-leaning Dodon could jointly govern given their different policy orientations. After coming to power, Sandu said the coalition was not a natural partnership, while Dodon called for the Socialists to set aside their differences with ACUM and work as a united team. Strains within the coalition persisted. In November 2019, a Socialist candidate defeated ACUM's other co-leader in a key election for the office of mayor of Chisinau, Moldova's capital. Nine days later, Socialist deputies filed the motion of no confidence against the Sandu government. The new government is led by Ion Chicu, who served in a previous government as minister of finance. Chicu and many other cabinet ministers have no party affiliation, although most have ties to Dodon or the Party of Socialists. The Chicu government was formed with the support of members of the Democratic Party of Moldova (PDM), which led the government from 2016 until June 2019 when it failed in an effort to use Moldova's Constitutional Court to block the Sandu government from coming to power. NcARtcad B <1\c zr> -d The Sandu government formed after February 2019 parliamentary elections (for results, see Table 1). International observers said the elections were competitive but tainted by allegations of pressure on public employees, strong indications of vote buying, and the misuse of state resources. After the election, Moldova lacked a new government for almost three months while leading parties held coalition negotiations. Eventually, ACUM and the Socialists, who had placed first in the elections, agreed to form a government. The two parties came together to unseat the PDM and the party's then-leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, a wealthy businessman. Many observers say the PDM and Plahotniuc had captured Moldova's state institutions for personal and party gain. Table I. February 2019 Parliamentary Elections Party List Single Mandate Total Party Seats (%) Seats Seats Party of Socialists 18 (31%) 17 35 PDM 13(24%) 17 30 ACUM 14 (27%) 12 26 Shor Party 5 (8%) 2 7 Independents 3 3 Source: Central Election Commission of the Republic of Moldova. After the Sandu government formed, Moldova's Constitutional Court, which observers considered to be under the PDM's influence, issued a series of rulings pronouncing the new government illegitimate and authorizing the then-acting PDM prime minister to act as president, dissolve parliament, and call new elections. For a week, tensions escalated as Moldova had two rival governments. Facing unified international discontent, the PDM backed down, and Plahotniuc left the country. Plahotniuc currently is wanted in Moldova on suspicion of money laundering and other crimes related to a bank fraud scandal involving the alleged loss of some $1 billion, equivalent to more than 12% of Moldova's gross domestic product (GDP). The PDM gained power in 2016 after the prior government collapsed amid fallout from the scandal. Another politician who reportedly fled Moldova was Ilan Shor, a regional mayor and head of the fourth party in parliament. Shor is appealing a seven-year prison sentence for his alleged role in the bank fraud. Since becoming independent in 1991, Moldova has coped with the secession of Transnistria, a Russian-backed territory with more than 10% of the country's population and a substantial but faltering industrial base. Despite its separatist status, Transnistria has economic relations with the European Union (EU), the destination for more than half of its exports. Russia stations approximately 1,500 soldiers in Transnistria, a few hundred of which Moldova accepts as peacekeepers. In 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that K~:>

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