Moldova and Cuba: a fading of Marxist malaise
Sunday's parliamentary election in Moldova finally brought about the collapse of its old communist party, still led by ageing ex-President Vladimir Voronin, which failed to win a single seat in the Moldovan Parliament.
The new parallel voting system, electing 51 MPs in single member constituencies and 50 on a national list, imposed a 6% threshold for single parties and 9% for alliances, tougher than most electoral rules regarding alliances of parties in Central and Eastern Europe. The Moldovan Communists, no longer truly a communist party, polled only 3.75% of the vote, considerably below this threshold and a far cry from the days where they governed Moldova alone. They have been supplanted by the more modern Moldovan Party of Socialists, who have proven adept at winning the crucial Russian minority vote and whose "old Labour" stance (social conservatism combined with socialist/social-democratic economics) has proven a boon in what is one of the poorest countries in Europe. The average salary in Moldova is just £3,240 per year, less than 1/8 that of the average British annual salary.
However, the more moderate but still social-democratic PDM (Democratic Party of Moldova) is eating into its more aspirational public sector base. The PDM increased its seat total by 11 but the Socialists increased their seat total by only 9; it is clear both benefitted from the PCRM's collapse.
On the right of the political spectrum, the Liberal Party of Moldova collapsed to 1.25% of the vote, losing all its seats. It was supplanted by the newer and very similar PAS (Party of Action and Solidarity) which formed an alliance with the liberal conservative Dignity and Truth Platform Party (DA). This alliance proved to be a fruitful one with Moldova's middle classes, securing 26.84% of the vote. However, since the DA-PAS alliance only won 12 SMCs compared to 17 each for the Socialists and PDM, the DA-PAS finished third in seat terms despite coming second in the popular vote. Had Moldova used mixed member proportional representation, the seat totals for DA-PAS and PDM would have been swapped around from the actual result. The conservative and pro-Russian Sor Party was the only other political party to win seats in this Moldovan Parliament, winning 7.
Despite considerable levels of municipal success in the course of the preceding Moldovan Parliament, the Christian democratic Our Party finished behind even the beleaguered PCRM with only 2.95% of the vote, not even half of the votes needed for seats. The Sor Party's similarly Russophilic stance was undoubtedly a key factor in Our Party's failure. All other parties polled less than 1% of the vote apiece; Moldova's Ecologist Green Party is still yet to gain representation, symptomatic of the slow progress of green politics in southeastern Europe.
On the same day, Cuba overwhelmingly approved, by a majority of 90.61% to 9.39%, a constitution whose provisions effectively signal the final end of communism in Cuba. The recognition of private property, business, and foreign investment mark this first and foremost. In fact, the new Cuban constitution omits any commitment to build or rebuild communism. With a turnout of 84.41%, this means that 76.46% of all Cuban voters have essentially repudiated communism and allowed for genuine democracy in Cuba, especially municipally and judicially.
The new parallel voting system, electing 51 MPs in single member constituencies and 50 on a national list, imposed a 6% threshold for single parties and 9% for alliances, tougher than most electoral rules regarding alliances of parties in Central and Eastern Europe. The Moldovan Communists, no longer truly a communist party, polled only 3.75% of the vote, considerably below this threshold and a far cry from the days where they governed Moldova alone. They have been supplanted by the more modern Moldovan Party of Socialists, who have proven adept at winning the crucial Russian minority vote and whose "old Labour" stance (social conservatism combined with socialist/social-democratic economics) has proven a boon in what is one of the poorest countries in Europe. The average salary in Moldova is just £3,240 per year, less than 1/8 that of the average British annual salary.
However, the more moderate but still social-democratic PDM (Democratic Party of Moldova) is eating into its more aspirational public sector base. The PDM increased its seat total by 11 but the Socialists increased their seat total by only 9; it is clear both benefitted from the PCRM's collapse.
On the right of the political spectrum, the Liberal Party of Moldova collapsed to 1.25% of the vote, losing all its seats. It was supplanted by the newer and very similar PAS (Party of Action and Solidarity) which formed an alliance with the liberal conservative Dignity and Truth Platform Party (DA). This alliance proved to be a fruitful one with Moldova's middle classes, securing 26.84% of the vote. However, since the DA-PAS alliance only won 12 SMCs compared to 17 each for the Socialists and PDM, the DA-PAS finished third in seat terms despite coming second in the popular vote. Had Moldova used mixed member proportional representation, the seat totals for DA-PAS and PDM would have been swapped around from the actual result. The conservative and pro-Russian Sor Party was the only other political party to win seats in this Moldovan Parliament, winning 7.
Despite considerable levels of municipal success in the course of the preceding Moldovan Parliament, the Christian democratic Our Party finished behind even the beleaguered PCRM with only 2.95% of the vote, not even half of the votes needed for seats. The Sor Party's similarly Russophilic stance was undoubtedly a key factor in Our Party's failure. All other parties polled less than 1% of the vote apiece; Moldova's Ecologist Green Party is still yet to gain representation, symptomatic of the slow progress of green politics in southeastern Europe.
On the same day, Cuba overwhelmingly approved, by a majority of 90.61% to 9.39%, a constitution whose provisions effectively signal the final end of communism in Cuba. The recognition of private property, business, and foreign investment mark this first and foremost. In fact, the new Cuban constitution omits any commitment to build or rebuild communism. With a turnout of 84.41%, this means that 76.46% of all Cuban voters have essentially repudiated communism and allowed for genuine democracy in Cuba, especially municipally and judicially.
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