The Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat, PSD) is an extra-parliamentary

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

currently led by Victor Șelin.

History

In the autumn of 1989, the materials of the 18th Stockholm Congress of

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism. It consists mostly of socialist and labour-oriented political parties and organisations ...

reached Chişinău from

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

and did stir up a lot of debates among those dissatisfied with the political realities in

Moldovan SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 1940 ...

. The party was founded on May 13, 1990, when was known as the Social Democratic Party of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Social-Democrat din Moldova, PSDM). The Founding Conference elected Oazu Nantoi, Ion Negură, Alexandru Coșelev as the Party Co-Chairpersons.Social-Democratic Party of Moldova
/ref> Initially, the Social-Democratic Party of Moldova fought for the independence of the

. That was the first party to promote the values of European

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

in Moldova. At the third congress of the party, 25–26 February 1995,

Anatol Țăranu Anatol Țăranu (born 19 October 1951) is a Moldovan politician. Biography Țăranu holds a Ph.D. in history, 1986, and served as member of the Parliament of Moldova (1990–1993, 2005–2009). Țăranu has also been a chief expert for the C ...

was elected as a new head of the party. On the eve of 1996 presidential elections, Social Democrats were the only ones to openly support

Petru Lucinschi Petru Lucinschi (; born 27 January 1940) is a former Moldovan politician who was Moldova's second President (1997–2001). Biography Early life and education Petru Lucinschi was born on 27 January 1940 in Rădulenii Vechi village, Soroc ...

. From 1996 to 1998, the party underwent some internal problems generated from within by controversial opinions on the party political course as well as from outside. This internal crisis culminated in 1998, when Gheorghe Sima group left the party. The old team headed by Oazu Nantoi took over the party leadership. Oazu Nantoi was a member of the Government of Moldova, but he resigned from Government in March 2000 and the 7th Congress of the party, 27–28 May 2000, was just the first step towards launching its own candidate as the

president of Moldova The President of the Republic of Moldova () is the head of state of Moldova. The current president is Maia Sandu, who assumed office on 24 December 2020. Duties and functions The office of the presidency in Moldova is largely ceremonial, ...

. Social-Democratic Party of Moldova was a member of the

. Incumbent Party Chairperson, Oazu Nantoi, attended in November 1999 the 21st

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Congress of the

. At the seventh congress of the party, 1 February 2004, Oazu Nantoi came with a proposition for Ion Mușuc (famous businessman in telecommunications) to take over the party leadership and refused he himself to be designated. In 1999 Social Democrats insisted on Ion Muşuc candidacy for the position of

Mayor of Chișinău The Mayor of Chișinău, officially the General Mayor of the Municipality of Chișinău ( ro, Primar general al municipiul Chișinău), is the head of the executive branch of Chișinău's government and a member of the city's Municipal Counci ...

. At the legislative elections on March 6th, 2005, the party won 2.9% of the popular vote, but no seats. In December 2007 the party merged with the Social Democracy Party (''Partidul Democraţiei Sociale'', PDS) of former prime minister

Dumitru Braghiș Dumitru Braghiș (; born December 28, 1957, the village of Grătieşti, today suburb of Chișinău) is a Moldovan political figure. He is the current Moldovan Ambassador to China and Vietnam, appointed in mid-2020. He was the Prime Minister of M ...

. Some representatives of the

Centrist Union of Moldova The Centrist Union of Moldova ( ro, Uniunea Centristă din Moldova, UCM) is a political party in Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is border ...

joined the new party, too. They didn't agree with the decision of their leader, Mihai Petrache, to abandon the process of negotiation regarding the unification of social democrats that had started some months before. Braghis has become new leader of the merged party. Eduard Mușuc, who was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party of Moldova before the fusion congress, has become the new secretary general of the party. In June 2008 Eduard Muşuc formed a coalition with the

Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova The Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Партидул Комуништилор дин Република Молдова, italic=no, Partidul Comuniștilor din Republica Moldova; russian: Партия коммунистов Р ...

and Christian Democratic People's Party to become president of the City Council of Chişinău. The year before the party's president Braghis was heavily criticized by the same communists when he ran for mayor. Some party members saw this as betrayal and left the party for

Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova The Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova ( ro, Partidul Liberal Democrat din Moldova, PLDM) is a conservatism, conservative List of political parties in Moldova, political party in Moldova. The party is led by Tudor Deliu. Until 2016, PLDM was led ...

(PLDM). In February 2010, it was reported that approximately 11,000 members of the PSD defected to the rival centre-left

Democratic Party of Moldova The European Social Democratic Party ( ro, Partidul Social Democrat European, PSDE) is a centre-left, populist social-democratic political party in Moldova. Established in 1997, the party holds pro-European views, and is an associate member of th ...

.Large portion of small left-wing party migrates to Democrats
Following the 12th party congress, on April 17, 2010, Victor Șelin has been elected as the new party president.

Electoral results

The party took part in the

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

(3.66%),

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

(1.86%), 2001 (2.47%), 2005 (2.92%), July 2009, 2010 parliamentary elections, but didn't pass the threshold of representation. The party took part in the local election:

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

(39 mandates in the rayonal and municipal councils (3.09%), 273 mandates in city and village councils (2.58%), 23 mayor mandates (2.89%),

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

(16 mandates in the rayonal and municipal councils (5.13%), 249 mandates in city and village councils (4.08%), 18 mayor mandates (2.86%), 2003 (38 mandates in the rayonal and municipal councils (3.37%), 500 mandates in city and village councils (4.61%), 44 mayor mandates (4.90%), 2007 (36 mandates in the rayonal and municipal councils (3.21%), 294 mandates in city and village councils (2.77%), 15 mayor mandates (1.67%).

Notable members and former members

* Oazu Nantoi *

* Ion Negură * Victor Șelin *

* Ion Mușuc * Eduard Mușuc * Alexandru Coșelev * Gheorghe Sima, Minister of Education (26 February 2002 – 2 July 2003)

References

External links

Official websiteSocial-Democratic Party of MoldovaPartidul Social Democrat (PSD)What’s happening with Social Democratic Party of Moldova?
{{Moldovan political parties Liberal parties in Moldova Pro-independence parties in the Soviet Union Social democratic parties Socialist International Political parties established in 1990 1990 establishments in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic Social democratic parties in the Soviet Union