Moldovan Democracy: How Amazing Is It?

I came across an interesting, yet somewhat controversial article Amazing Moldova by D. Furman. The author looks at the situation of democracy in Moldova from a different perspective and finds that Moldova's metamorphosis from a Moscow-ruled Soviet republic into an independent country is profoundly unique in the midst of the NIS area. Although Moldova has become neither a truly democratic state, nor a “weakly managed” democracy such as Azerbajan or Belorus, it managed to combine in an unprecedented way features from both types. Moldova peacefully combines two extremes records in the NIS area: on one hand, the revival and return to governance of a powerful communist party, and on the other hand, the highest level of alignment of its institutions to the general democratic model.

According to Furman, despite serious economic difficulties and a profound national identity crisis, the Moldovan democratic institutions have continuously developed. In fact, he claims, the societal cleavage on the national identity issues has actually reinforced the Moldovan democracy. Moreover, the return of the communists, instead of killing democracy, has actually strengthened it. The most amazing conclusion of Furman’s analysis is that Moldova can even teach other countries a lesson … in political honesty.

“The specific Moldovan circumstances contributed to the situation in which the “rules of the game” were followed by both the Moldovan ‘players’ and, more consistently, by the West. The result is not bad. Possibly, Moldova’s most important lesson resides in the fact that, very often, honesty is the best way of doing politics.” (own translation)

I think the basic question raised by Furman is both important and interesting. Moldova is indeed a unique case in terms of political development. Perhaps, from outside and in comparison with other NIS countries, Moldova’s situation does not look so bad. However, I cannot agree with Furman’s optimistic view regarding democratic institutions in Moldova. From within, they seem to stagnate and public respect towards them is continuously falling. The revival and return of a communist party to power might not have killed (but frequently discouraged) all democratic institutions and processes (a worst case scenario which, by the way, is being gradually enacted in Russia by a non-communist party). The return of the communists and their on-going rule should be seen and evaluated in terms of opportunity costs. The low quality of governance brought by the communists has allowed major development, social and security challenges to stay unresolved or even worsen. For years now, Moldova remains the poorest country in Europe, largely due to continuous lack of political astuteness and maturity. Preserving status-quo is the easiest thing to do in Moldova, and should not be regarded as a political accomplishment.