At stake in this election:

• 101 seats in the Parliament (Parlament)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Vladimir VORONIN *
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vasile TARLEV
• Assembly: Moldova has a unicameral Parliament (Parlament) with 101 seats.

* The electoral system is two-round. 61 votes are needed (the votes of three-fifths of elected legislators). If more than two candidates run and none achieves this threshold, there is a runoff between the top two candidates within 10 days. If two or fewer candidates run and none achieves this threshold, there is a repeat election within 30 days. If no President is elected after a repeat election, the acting President dissolves Parliament, and there are new legislative elections. Parliament may be dissolved once per year.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is indirectly elected by parliament to serve a 4-year term.
• In the Parliament (Parlament) 101 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Communist Party of the Republic of Moldova / (PCRM)
  • Leader: Vladimir VORONIN
  • Seats won in this election: 56
  • Seats won in last election: 71
• Party: Democratic Moldova Bloc / (BMD)**
  • Leader: Serafim URECHEAN
  • Seats won in this election: 34
  • Seats won in last election: 19
• Party: Popular Christian Democratic Party / (PPCD)
  • Leader: Iurie ROSCA
  • Seats won in this election: 11
  • Seats won in last election: 11

** Includes Our Moldova Alliance, Social Liberty Party, and the Democratic Party.

Last Parliamentary election:

• Last parliamentary elections held on February 25, 2001.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,595,187 (2005)
• Registered Voters: 2,430,537 (March 2005)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,873,346 (2005)

·         Is Moldova a signatory to CEDAW: No

·         Has Moldova ratified CEDAW: Yes, accession (1 July 1994)

·         Gender Quota: No

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 22 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 107 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Low (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Moldova a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)

·         Has Moldova ratified CRPD: Yes (21 September 2010)

·         Population with a disability: 539,278 (est.)