Vladimir Voronin - Presidential Career

Presidential Career

The PCRM won 50.07% of the vote and 71 of the 101 seats in the February 2001 parliamentary election; by this time the constitution had been changed to provide for election of the President through the Parliament rather than popular vote. In March the PCRM's Central Committee nominated Voronin as its presidential candidate at a plenum, and on April 4, 2001 Voronin was elected as President by the Parliament. Of the 89 deputies participating in the vote, 71 voted for Voronin, 15 voted for Dumitru Braghiş, and three voted for Valerian Cristea. He was sworn in at a ceremony in Chişinău on April 7, 2001. The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re-elected as the PCRM's leader.

Voronin maintained his commitment to the reduction of Moldova's chronic poverty by allocating more resources to social safety net items such as health, education, and increasing pensions and salaries. These populist aims helped to maintain support for his regime, but Moldova still remained the poorest country in Europe throughout his presidency, with around 38% of GDP coming from remittances of Moldovans working abroad (2008). Voronin's tenure as President was marked by fluctuating relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. Voronin proceeded with Lucinschi's plans to privatize several important state-owned industries, and on occasion even broke with his own party over this issue.

From January to April 2002, opposition forces organized large demonstrations in protest against several controversial government proposals, including expanded use of the Russian language in schools, and plans for its designation as a second official language. While the demonstrations were tense at times, the government did not use force and ultimately agreed to mediation by the Council of Europe.

During his visit to the United States (December 16–20, 2002), Voronin met with president Bush and issued a joint statement with him affirming the relationship between the two countries, and acknowledging the work Moldova needed to bring about reform and privatization.

In 2003, Voronin's government backtracked over signing a Russian-proposed federalization settlement with the breakaway region of Transnistria (Kozak memorandum). In 2004, Voronin branded the leadership of Transnistria "a transnational criminal group", and ordered an economic blockade of Transnistria after its authorities closed several Romanian-speaking schools.