MOLDOVA’S GOVERNING PARTY DISINTEGRATES.

The Agrarian Democratic Party, which has governed Moldova since 1993 and won 56 out of 104 parliamentary seats in the 1994 elections, has now been reduced to a leftward-drifting rump of 19 parliamentary deputies. In the latest setback for the ADP, a group of 15 deputies has defected to the pro-presidential Movement for a Democratic and Prosperous Moldova (MPDM). The defectors disagreed with the ADP leadership’s resistance to a number of reform measures recommended by Western economic institutions and donor countries. Several other Agrarian deputies had switched sides on similar grounds earlier this year. Last year, 10 deputies left the ADP to join then-president Mircea Snegur’s party.

The remaining group of 19 Agrarian deputies has made a de facto alliance with the 22-strong Socialist parliamentary bloc, and is also considering a tactical alliance with the Party of Communists for the upcoming elections. But even this Agrarian rump is divided between undeclared pro-Snegur elements — these are led by parliament chairman Dumitru Motpan — and supporters of former prime minister Andrei Sangheli (in office from 1992 to 1997). Meanwhile, the cabinet of ministers retains a strong contingent of ministers affiliated with the ADP, including Prime Minister Ion Ciubuc — a relative of Sangheli. These ministers tread an uncertain path between the Agrarian-Socialist alliance on one side and President Petru Lucinschi, with a few pro-reform ministers, on the other side. (Flux, Basapress, November 10-14)

Political Shifts Underway in Moldova.