1996 signaled Communists’ reemergence on the political arena, Ion Tabarta

[Info-Prim Neo article from the Series “Moldova-20! Whereto?”] [Each of the 20 years of independence in Moldova has its meaning and role in what happened in the period and, undoubtedly, in what is going to happen in the country and the people’s lives in the future. Info-Prim Neo asked politicians, analysts, experts and personalities from different areas to pronounce on the main events that took place during a certain year and assess their impact on the country.] [The year 1996 as seen by Ion Tabarta, political analyst] [January 19] – The Moldovan, Ukrainian and Russian Presidents adopted the Declaration on the urgent political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. [April 12] – Russia and Moldova signed an economic and trade cooperation agreement for 1996-97. [April 12] – The Protocol on the recognition of Moldova’s economic rights to the heritage of enterprises situated in Russia and vice versa was signed. [April 12] – The agreement on the avoidance of double taxation on income and property and prevention of tax evasion was signed by the Governments of Moldova and Russia. [November 17] – The first round of presidential elections. [December 1 – The second round of presidential elections. Petru Lucinschi became President. [Political analyst Ion Tabarta] says the main political event of 1996 was the presidential elections. “The ballot was preceded by conflicts between the formal political-juridical institutions established by the 1994 Constitution and the personal political institutions created around the main leaders of Moldova: President Mircea Snegur and Prime Minister Andrei Sangheli”, said Ion Tabarta According to him, President Mircea Snegur tried to sack the Sangheli Cabinet and demanded additional powers. He wanted to transform Moldova into a presidential republic with a bicameral Parliament, the Superior Chamber of which should have gathered representatives of local and regional administration. The expert said that in turn Andrei Sangheli, backed by the governing party, launched a blistering attack against the President’s Office as a state institution and against the head of the state. “The climax of this conflict was reached in the spring of 1996, when Mircea Snegur sacked Minister of Defense Pavel Creanga. The latter, supported by Sangheli, appealed the decision at the Constitutional Court, which ruled that the President didn’t have the legal power of sacking members of the Government and annulled Mircea Snegur’s decision. The President had to comply and restored Pavel Creanga to his position”, said Ion Tabarta. According to the analyst, the differences between various political factions aggravated before and during the presidential elections. The ballot was won by Petru Lucinschi, who bested acting President Mircea Snegur. Tabarta noted that Lucinschi was backed by Russia during the electoral campaign. “These two events: the reappointment of Pavel Creanga and the electoral victory of Petru Lucinschi had a major impact on the evolution of Moldovan statehood. The first one reaffirmed Moldova’s image as the most democratic country in the CIS space. The second strengthened the leftist orientation of Moldovan politics, stemming from the victory of the Democratic Agrarian Party in the parliamentary elections on February 27, 1994”, explained Tabarta. On the other hand, Tabarta said that 1996 was the signal of the Communists’ reemergence on the political arena. Vladimir Voronin, the PCRM candidate, was third in the elections with 10.23%, besting the Agrarian candidate Andrei Sangheli (9.47%). “1996 was the year of transition of URSS nostalgic voters from PDAM to PCRM”, added the analyst. Tabarta thinks 1996 was crucial in the development of the Transnistrian conflict. While the negotiations were blocked in Chisinau and Tiraspol, a new actor appeared. On January 19, 1996, in Moscow, the Presidents of Moldova, Russia and Ukraine signed a joint Declaration on the urgent political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict. According to the analyst, Kiev’s involvement in the settlement process in order to counterbalance Moscow was considered a great diplomatic success in Chisinau. {Ion Tabarta is a political analyst and lecturer at the University of European Political and Economic Studies. Between 2006 and 2008, he was a political correspondent for the Democratia weekly. Ion Tabarta graduated the National School of Political and Administrative Studies in Bucharest and the University of Bucharest. Ion Tabarta is licensed in political sciences and history and has a master's degree in international relations. He is currently a doctoral student at the Faculty of International Relations, Political and Administrative Sciences.} [Dumitrita Ciuvaga, Info-Prim Neo]