Chamber:
	Parlamentul
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	25 February 2001
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in the Parliament following the premature dissolution of this body. General elections had previously been held in March 1998.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Following a series of inconclusive presidential elections, President Petru Lucinschi signed a decree on 31 December 2000 dissolving Parliament and scheduling early legislative elections for 25 February 2001. The legislature was formally dissolved on 12 January 2001. The Central Electoral Commission announced on 26 January 2001 that 1,672 candidates were competing for the 101 seats in Parliament. Ten of these were running as independent candidates and the rest on the 17 party lists. Seventy-three candidates were deputies in the outgoing legislature. There were 294 women candidates. The electoral campaign was officially launched on 12 January 2001 and, in general, aroused few passions among a population whose standard of living is one of the lowest in Europe. It was dominated by the Communists' promises to double salaries and pensions and the nostalgic appeal of a return to the order and jobs for life of the Soviet era. The elections were described as free and fair by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Some 1,963 polling stations were open around the country for the vote as well as 20 abroad, and the Central Electoral Commission reported a turnout of 69.96 per cent. The Communist Party of Moldova (PCM) won just under 50 per cent of the vote and an absolute majority of the seats (71). Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis' alliance of centrist parties, the Electoral Bloc Braghis Alliance (BA), came in second, with 13.4 per cent of the vote and 19 seats. The Christian Democratic People's Party was third with 8.31 per cent of the vote and 11 seats. Fourteen parties did not reach the six per cent threshold needed to gain parliamentary representation. In the last election in 1998, the Communists had won 30 per cent of the vote, enough to become the largest faction in Parliament but short of a majority. This was the first electoral comeback by Communists in the former Soviet Union in a decade. Analysts said many voters appeared to hope that their country would benefit from closer economic ties with Russia. After his party's overwhelming victory, Mr Vladimir Vornoni announced that he would call a referendum on having Moldova join a union with Russia and Belarus. On 20 March 2001, Parliament held its first session and elected Ms. Eugenia Ostapciuc as its Speaker. Subsequently, on 4 April 2001, Parliament elected Mr Vladimir Voronin as President of the Republic.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (25 February 2001): Elections results
Number of registered electors	2 379 491
Voters	1 606 703 (67.52%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	40 310
Valid votes	1 566 393

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM)	102	794 808	50.07
Electoral Bloc Braghis Alliance	101	212 071	13.36
Christian-Democratic People's Party	103	130 810	8.24

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Party of Moldovan Communists (PCM)	71
Electoral Bloc Braghis Alliance	19
Christian-Democratic People's Party	11

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	87
Women:	14
Percent of women:	13.86

Distribution of seats according to age:
21 to 30 years	1
31 to 40 years	5
41 to 50 years	36
51 to 60 years	39
61 to 70 years	19
Over 70 years	1
Distribution of seats according to profession:
Farmers	18
Engineers	17
Economists	16
Legal professions	12
Teachers	12
Technicians	8
Journalists/writers/publishers	5
Historians	4
Medical professions	4
Others	5