Moldova: Popular Front political party, including number of elected officials, party platform, treatment of members and supporters, availability of state protection for members and supporters (2005)

The Moldovan Popular Front political party existed from 1989 to 1992, after which it was renamed as the Christian Democratic People's Front (CDPF) (Political Parties of the World 2005, 413; Bugajski 2002, 905; Basapress 2 Feb. 2004; ADEPT n.d.c). In 1999 the name of the CDPF changed to the Christian Democratic People's Party (CDPP) (ibid.; Political Parties of the World 2005, 414). Today's CDPP was established on 20 May 1989 (ADEPT n.d.c; Bugajski 2002, 905), was registered on 25 October 1989 (Executive Director 14 Nov. 2005), and is now considered a main political party in Moldova (Factiva Country Profile 1 Nov. 2005). The leader of the CDPP is Iurie Rosca (ADEPT n.d.b; ibid. n.d.c); party headquarters are located in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau (ibid.); and membership totals approximately 20,000 people (ibid. n.d.e).

There are various names for the CDPP in the literature, including the "Christian Democratic People's Party" (ADEPT n.d.a; OSCE 7 Mar. 2005), "People's Christian Democratic Party" (ADEPT n.d.d), "Popular Christian Democratic Party" (COE 16 Sept. 2005; AP 4 Apr. 2005; Factiva Country Profiles 1 Nov. 2005; RFE/RL 6 Mar. 2005; Xinhua 9 Apr. 2005), "Christian Democratic Popular Party" (Basapress 31 May 2005; ibid. 15 Apr. 2005; ibid. 2 Feb. 2004; Executive Director 14 Nov. 2005; Infotag 21 June 2005; ibid. 24 May 2005; ITAR-TASS 8 Nov. 2005; ProTV 4 Nov. 2005; ibid. 13 Sept. 2005) and the "Christian Democratic Popular Front" (Bugajski 2002, 905).

Elected Officials

In the 6 March 2005 parliamentary elections, the CDPP came third after the Communist Party and the electoral bloc "Moldova Democrata" (ADEPT n.d.g), earning 9.07 per cent of the vote and 11 seats in parliament (ibid.; ibid. n.d.a; OSCE 7 Mar. 2005). However, on a list of deputies elected in the 6 March 2005 parliamentary elections published by the Association for Participatory Democracy in Moldova, only nine elected CDPP deputies are present (ADEPT) (n.d.b). Information on elected CDPP officials outside of the Moldovan parliament could not be found among the literature consulted by the Research Directorate.

Party Platform

Sources categorize the CDPP as a "right-wing" (ProTV 13 Sept. 2005; EIU 25 Apr. 2005; Basapress 15 Apr. 2005; ibid. 2 Feb. 2004; Infotag 24 May 2005) and "centre-right" political party (WMRC 5 Apr. 2005; Xinhua 9 Apr. 2005; Political Parties of the World 2005, 413; RFE/RL 6 Mar. 2005). The party slogan is "YES for people for Moldova" (ADEPT n.d.a ) and in the March 2005 election, the CDPP campaigned under the colours of yellow and orange, implying solidarity with political groups advocating reform in neighbouring Romania and Ukraine (RFE/RL 6 Mar. 2005).

The Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT) is a non-governmental and non-profit organization based in Moldova that provides information on the electoral and democratic processes in Moldova with the aim of promoting and supporting citizen participation in all aspects of life (ADEPT n.d.f). The ADEPT Website provides detailed information on elections and political parties in Moldova, including the CDPP (ibid.). According to ADEPT, the CDPP is of "Christian-Democratic" orientation (ADEPT n.d.c) and seeks to "promote...democratic, Christian and national values" such as truth, liberty, responsibility, justice[,]...solidarity and human rights in Moldova (ibid. n.d.d). Although it takes a Christian orientation, the party believes in the freedom of religion and believes that political parties should not intervene in religious relations (ibid.). However, the party also believes that the Christian Orthodox Church should be more involved in social activities (ibid.).

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the CDPP supported Moldovan integration with Romania and opposed Russian interference in Moldovan political affairs, but since 1994 the CDPP has shifted from integration with Romania and advocated the accession of a sovereign, unified Moldovan state to the European Union (EU) (COE 16 Sept. 2005; Executive Director 14 Nov. 2005; WMRC 5 Apr. 2005; EIU 25 Apr. 2005; OSCE 7 Mar. 2005; ADEPT n.d.d). The CDPP has also been categorized as having a "pro-Western" stance (COE 16 Sept. 2005; AP 4 Apr. 2005). Indeed, the CDPP party platform states that a "major strategic objective" of the party is to secure Moldovan membership in the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (ADEPT n.d.d). Other priorities of the CDPP include education, fighting corruption and organized crime, and care and protection of the environment (ibid.).

The CDPP supports the formation of civil society, the development of a market economy, and democratic principles such as freedom of opinion, social justice, and transparency of political power (ibid). It also advocates protection of the Romanian language under law and promotes the idea that while the Romanian language should be promoted in all social environments, the state should also protect the linguistic, religious and cultural identity of ethnic minorities in Moldova, although such groups should be encouraged to integrate into Moldovan society through the study of Romanian language and culture (ibid.).

The CDPP advocates freedom in the family, workplace, society and state, solidarity between individuals and communities, equality between all persons and the right of all persons to protection and justice (ibid.). According to the CDPP, the family is "one of [the] fundamental institutions of the nation," and abortion is a "sin and a crime against life and human beings" (ibid.). In addition, the state should be able to intervene to protect a family or members of a family, but parents should raise children according to their own convictions (ibid.).

Party Dynamics

Despite its previous opposition to the Communist party, the CDPP formed an alliance with the ruling Communist Party after the parliamentary election in March 2005 by supporting the Communist Party leader in the April 2005 presidential election (ITAR-TASS 8 Nov. 2005; COE 16 Sept. 2005; ProTV 13 Sept. 2005; AP 4 Apr. 2005; WMRC 5 Apr. 2005; Xinhua 9 Apr. 2005; Executive Director 14 Nov. 2005). The CDPP apparently took such a position to avoid having Russian-supported forces come into power (AP 4 Apr. 2005), because the Communist Party has a pro-European Union stance, and because the Communist Party met the conditions the CDPP put forth (COE 16 Sept. 2005). CDPP party leader Iurie Rosca was later appointed deputy speaker of parliament (ITAR-TASS 8 Nov. 2005; ProTV 13 Sept. 2005; Infotag 24 May 2005; Xinhua 9 Apr. 2005).

The Council of Europe (COE) has commented that the "unorthodox" cooperation between the Communists and Christian Democrats in Moldova is "producing certain results" (COE 16 Sept. 2005). However, this is at the expense of party cohesion as CDPP members have been both voluntarily (ITAR-TASS 8 Nov. 2005) and forcibly (Basapress 31 May 2005) leaving the party since a cooperative relationship was established. In May 2005, five party members were expelled from the party "'for their neglectful and hostile attitude to party colleagues'" and "'for evading their statutory duties'" (ibid.). One of the expelled party members said that he was expelled due to party leader Iurie Rosca's fear of competition and improper management of party finances (ibid.). Others accused party leader Iurie Rosca of "establishing [a] dictatorship in the party" and alleged that there had been three violent incidents involving Rosca, but to these allegations Rosca replied, "there is nothing I should blush for in front of my colleagues" (ProTV 4 Nov. 2005).

Treatment of CDPP Members and Availability of State Protection

In the opinion of the executive director of a non-governmental organization in Moldova specializing in the Moldovan political process, "Nowadays there are no problems in what concerns the membership of this party" (Executive Director 14 Nov. 2005). This executive director added that, "[g]enerally, there [are] no problems in appealing to lawyer[s], courts, ombudsman, NGO[s] and even the European Court for Human Rights.... [D]iscrimination in Moldova persists only when very serious economical and political interests are contested.... For common people, without obvious economic interests, there are no problems in [belonging to] any registered political party. After all, the leaders of [the] [Christian Democrat People's Party or the Electoral Bloc Moldova Democrata are] members of [the] Parliamentary Assembly of [the] Council of Europe and they [may] report [there] about human rights violation[s] [against members of the CDPP]" (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Associated Press (AP). 4 April 2005. "Pro-Western Lawmakers Ensure Voronin Win." (Factiva)

Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT). n.d.a. "Christian Democratic Peoples Party (CDPP)." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]
_____. n.d.b. "List of Deputies Elected in the March 6 Parliamentary Elections." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]
_____. n.d.c. "People's Christian Democratic Party: Historic Background." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]
_____. n.d.d. "People's Christian Democratic Party: Program." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]
_____. n.d.e. "People's Christian Democratic Party: Statistics." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]
_____. n.d.f. "Presentation." [Accessed 21 Nov. 2005]
_____. n.d.g. "Total Results in Parliamentary Elections of 6 March, 2005." [Accessed 24 Oct. 2005]

Basapress [Chisinau, in Russian]. 31 May 2005. "Moldovan Opposition Party Expels Five Members." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. [Chisinau, in Moldovan]. 15 April 2005. "Parliamentary Sessions to Be Broadcast Live by Moldovan TV, Radio." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. [Chisinau, in Moldovan]. 2 February 2004. "Former Nationalist Appointed Moldovan President's Adviser." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)

Bugajski, Janusz. 2002. The Center for Strategic and International Studies. Political Parties of Eastern Europe. New York: M.E. Sharpe.

Council of Europe (COE). 16 September 2005. Parliamentary Assembly. "Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Moldova." (Doc. 10671.) [Accessed 15 Nov. 2005]

Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). 25 April 2005. "Moldova: Peace Work." (Factiva)

Executive Director, Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT). 14 November 2005. Correspondence.

Factiva Country Profiles. 1 November 2005. "Factiva Country Profile – Moldova." (Factiva)

Infotag [Chisinau, in Russian]. 21 June 2005. "Moldovan Agency Says Chisinau Polls to Depoliticize Mayor's Post." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. 24 May 2005. "Moldovan MPs Calls for US Economic Support." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)

ITAR-TASS. 8 November 2005. "New Pro-Romanian Organization Set Up in Moldova." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). 7 March 2005. "International Election Observation Mission. Parliamentary Election, Republic of Moldova – 6 March 2005." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2005]

Political Parties of the World. 2005. Sixth Edition. "Moldova." Edited by Bogdan Szajkowski. Famington Hills, Michigan: Gale Group.

ProTV [Chisinau, in Moldovan]. 4 November 2005. "Moldovan Opposition Leader Denies Allegations of Dictatorial Rule in Party." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)
_____. 13 September 2005. "Moldovan Party Leaders Do Not Regret Voting to Re-Elect President." (Factiva/BBC Monitoring)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). 6 March 2005. "Communists Ahead in Moldovan Exit Polls." [Accessed 15 Nov. 2005]

World Markets Research Centre (WMRC). 5 April 2005. Valerie Talacko. "Moldovan Parliament Re-Elects Newly Pro-Western Communist as President." (Factiva)

Xinhua News Agency. 9 April 2005. "Moldovan President Reappoints Tarlev as Prime Minister." (Factiva)

Additional Sources Consulted

Internet sources, including: European Country of Origin Information Network, Freedom House, Government of Moldova, Human Rights Watch, International Religious Freedom Report, Moldova Azi, Moldovan Helsinki Committee for Human Rights, Parliament of Moldova, Open Society Institute, TransitionsOnline, Women's Organization of Moldova.