Explainer: How Parliamentary Elections Work
A technical look at how Moldova will vote this month
Today we’re continuing our series of articles analyzing and explaining key aspects of the upcoming parliamentary elections. Yesterday I sent an email asking people to send me their questions and I got some really interesting responses. A number of people requested a primer on just how Moldova’s elections work from a technical standpoint. So today we’re gonna start at the beginning and dive into this topic.
Before we get going - I realized I made a mistake in yesterday’s Weekly Roundup. I linked to the ZdG investigation suggesting that people read the whole thing, but I didn’t realize that they published it in English as well! So if you’re interested, here’s the link.
The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova
Moldova’s parliament is unicameral and is comprised of 101 deputies, called Members of Parliament or MPs. Parliament is responsible for legislation and oversight functions, and parliament votes to form a government. The cabinet of ministers are a separate branch and unlike some countries (like the UK) ministers are not sitting MPs. If an MP is appointed as a minister they must leave their seat in parliament for the job. Typically, ministers, including the Prime Minister are chosen from outside parliament and most have never stood for a public election (and never will).
Parliament is led by the President of Parliament, which is sometimes anglicized as the “Speaker of Parliament.” Currently this position is held by PAS party leader Igor Grosu.
Parliamentary elections are held at least once every 4 years,1 but can be held more frequently if snap elections are called. Snap elections happen if parliament is repeatedly unable to form a government, or approve a budget.