At stake in this election:

• 101 seats in the Parliament (Parlament)

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Mihai GHIMPU
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Vlad FILAT
• Assembly: Moldova has a unicameral Parliament (Parlament) with 101 seats.

Description of electoral system:

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

* The electoral system is two-rounds. 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.

*** There is a three percent threshold for independent candidates, five percent threshold for parties. An election is valid only if one-third of registered voters turn out.

Main parties in the electoral race:

• Party: Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova / Partidul Comuniştilor din Republica Moldova (PCRM)
  • Leader: Vladimir VORONIN
  • Seats won in last election: 48
• Party: Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova / Partidul Liberal Democrat din Moldova (PLDM)**
  • Leader: Vlad FILAT
  • Seats won in last election: 18
• Party: Liberal Party / Partidul Liberal (PL)***
  • Leader: Mihai GHIMPU
  • Seats won in last election: 15
• Party: Democratic Party of Moldova / Partidul Democrat din Moldova (PDM)****
  • Leader: Marian LUPU
  • Seats won in last election: 13
• Party: Party Alliance Our Moldova / Partidul Alianţă Moldova Noastră (AMN)*****
  • Leader: Serafim URECHEAN
  • Seats won in last election: 7
• Party: Christian-Democratic People's Party / Partidul Popular Creştin Democrat (PPCD)
  • Leader: Iurie ROSCA
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Social Democratic Party / Partidul Social Democrat (PSD)
  • Leader: Victor SELIN
  • Seats won in last election: 0
• Party: Ecologist Party of Moldova / Partidul Ecologist din Moldova (PEMAVA)
  • Leader: Vladimir BRAGA
  • Seats won in last election: 0

** The PLDM is part of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI)
*** The PL is part of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI)
**** The PDM is part of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI)
***** The AMN is part of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI)

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 3,562,045 (2010)
• Registered Voters: 2,662,052 (September 2010)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 1,849,497 (2010)

·         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: 24 (following the 2009 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: 534,306 (est.)