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ADEPT | Gagauzia 2016 | Presidential 2016 | Elections 2015 | Bashkan 2015 | Gagauzia 2012 | Political Parties
| Date of elections | July 29, 2009 |
| Type of elections | Early Parliamentary Elections |
| Electoral threshold for | |
| political parties | 5% |
| electoral blocks | not allowed by legislation |
| independent candidates | 3% |
|
Voter turnout to validate election
»»»
| 1/3 |
| Number of electoral contestants | |
| political parties | 8 (10-2) |
| electoral blocks | not allowed by legislation |
| independent candidates | 0 |
|
Voter turnout
»»»
| 58.77% |
| Seats distribution | |
| PCRM | 48 |
| PLDM | 18 |
| PL | 15 |
| PDM | 13 |
| AMN | 7 |
As the Parliament elected on April 5, 2009 was dissolved because had failed to elect the President of the Republic of Moldova, early parliamentary elections were held on July 29, 2009, when the new composition of the 18th Parliament was elected out of 8 electoral contestants (political parties). The July 29, 2009 parliamentary elections were the 6th electoral competition after the Republic of Moldova declared its independence. Similar to previous parliamentary elections, the July 29 elections were held under a proportional system, whereby the whole country forms one constituency that elected 101 members of Parliament. The most important legislative modifications to the July 29 scrutiny were:
For the July 29 elections, in all 1987 polling stations were established (on April 5 — 1977 polling stations), 1954 out of them — inside the country and 33 in the diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Moldova abroad. Initially, 10 electoral contestants were registered for elections, but later 2 of them (PNL and MAE) withdrew from the race, expressing their support for other electoral contestants.
The voter turnout was 58.77%, and five political parties passed the electoral threshold: PCRM — 44.69% (in the April 5 elections — 49.48%); PLDM — 16.57% (12.43%); PL — 14.68% (13.13%); PDM — 12.54% (on April 5 the party did not pass the electoral threshold, getting only 2.97%) and AMN — 7.35% (9.77%). The 101 parliamentary seats have been distributes as follows:
National observers have characterized the July 29 parliamentary elections as partially free and partially fair. The international observers assessed some shortcomings, which did not affect the overall election results. The CIS observers declared that the early parliamentary elections were democratic, in full accordance with the electoral legislation in force, under the conditions of political pluralism.
The legality of the July 2009 elections was officially contested only by PPCD that asked the Constitutional Court to order the vote recount, but the request was rejected. Besides, two political parties (PL and AMN) applied to court, contesting the formula for parliamentary seat distribution that would be disadvantaging them and would have been deprived of one parliamentary seat each. The complaints were rejected by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Justice, on grounds that the seat distribution formula is established under the Election Code, while the validation of parliamentary mandates is within the competence of the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court rejected these complaints, too.
On August 8, four out of five political parties that passed the electoral threshold — PLDM, PL, PDM and AMN — have constituted the Ruling Coalition “Alliance for European Integration”. In the early parliamentary elections of July 29, these parties won together 53 parliamentary seats.
On August 14, the Constitutional Court confirmed the results of the July 29 elections and validated the mandate of 101 members of Moldova’s 18th Legislature.