page_title: History of independent Moldova
section_title: Alliance for Democracy and Reforms 1998-2001
hierarchical_section_title: History of independent Moldova / Alliance for Democracy and Reforms 1998-2001
caption_attribution_description: English: Petru Lucinschi, the second President of Moldova. Русский: Пётр Лучинский, второй президент Молдовы.
context_page_description: The following is timeline of the History of independent Moldova which started after the independence of Moldova.
context_section_description: After winning the presidential elections of 1996, on 15 January 1997, Petru Lucinschi, the former First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party in 1989–91, became the country's second president.
  At the legislative elections on 22 March 1998, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which was re-legalized in 1994 after being banned in 1991, gained 40 of the 101 places in the Parliament, but was reduced to opposition when an Alliance for Democracy and Reforms was formed by the Democratic Convention of Moldova (26 MPs), Movement for a democratic and Prosperous Moldova (24 MPs), and Party of Democratic Forces (11 MPs). However, activity of the new government of prime-minister Ion Ciubuc (24 January 1997 – 1 February 1999), was marked by chronic political instability, which prevented a coherent reform program. The Alliance for Democracy and Reforms was the first coalition government in the history of Moldova. Foreign policy was marked by a duality of belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States and steps towards a rapprochement with Western Europe.
  The ruble crisis of 1998 in Russia, Moldova's main economic partner at the time, produced an economic crisis in the country.
  Moldova received an International Monetary Fund special mission advising the government on how to cope with the effects of the Russian crisis. Russia bought at that time 85% of Moldova's wine and brandy and most of its canned goods and tobacco. After the rouble crashed, most Russian importers put deals with Moldova on hold. Moldovan president Petru Lucinschi was quoted as saying that the Russian crisis had cost Moldova as much as five per cent of its GDP. The country's parliament was discussing a programme aimed at reducing imports and searching for new markets outside Russia.
  Privatization was stalled, the Moldovan leu lost 60% with respect to the US dollar within a year (August 1998-July 1999), an energy crisis swept through the country, wages and pensions were paid with a considerable delay of several months, corruption extended. The level of life plunged, with 75% of population living below the poverty line, while the economic disaster caused 600,000 people to leave the country. This eventually resulted in the interruption of relations with the International Monetary Fund.
  In economic terms, the 1998 crisis provoked an emigration of labor, as well as permanent emigration from Moldova. According to the census data, from 1989 to 2004, Moldova has lost about 400,000 inhabitants, or 9% of the population. Analysts estimate that actual emigration could be higher, as many seasonal workers remain registered as living in the country.
  After the acting government of Serafim Urechean (5–17 February 1999), new governments were formed by Ion Sturza ( 19 – 9 February November 1999) and Dumitru Braghiş (21 December 1999 – 19 April 2001). On 21 July 2000, the Parliament adopted an amendment to the Constitution that transformed Moldova from a presidential to a parliamentary republic, in which the president is elected by 3/5 of the votes in the parliament, and no longer directly by the people.
  Later in 2000, when Parliament failed three times to elect a new president, Petru Lucinschi exercised his right to dissolve Parliament, calling for new parliamentary elections. However, since no single candidate was able to garner a majority of votes, Lucinschi temporarily remained president.
  Disagreements that appeared within the Alliance for Democracy and Reforms, caused to some degree by displeasure with seat distributions, led to its disintegration and an overwhelming Party of Communists victory in 2001 parliamentary election.
  In the next decade, the Party of Communists used very successfully the incoherent activity of the Alliance for Democracy and Reforms for the discreditation of any form of political coalition formed without Communists. Their criticisms of the Alliance For European Integration is a good example.
caption: Petru Lucinschi, Moldova's second president (1996-2001)
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