The Communist Party of Moldova (Romanian: Partidul Comunist al Moldovei, PCM; Moldovan Cyrillic: Партидул КомуниÑÑ‚ ал Молдовей; Russian: КоммуниÑтичеÑÐºÐ°Ñ Ð¿Ð°Ñ€Ñ‚Ð¸Ñ ÐœÐ¾Ð»Ð´Ð°Ð²Ð¸Ð¸) was one of the fourteen republic-level parties that formed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Indeed, the PCM was the republic-level chapter of the CPSU in the Moldavian SSR from 1940 to 1991. During that time, except for the period of Axis occupation in 1941-1944, it was the sole legal political party in the republic. It was outlawed by the government in August 1991, just after Moldova declared independence.
Perestroika period, that had seen the party increasingly pummeled, was also marked by November riots. The party leader Semion Grossu was remplaced with Petru Lucinschi on November 16, 1989.
After the Communist party was legalised again by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) on 7 September 1993, the PCM was reborn as the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova, which became the largest party in Moldova since the 2001 elections, and the ruling party from 2001-2009. Another communist party was founded in 2012, the Communist Party of Moldova (2012), which claims the PCRM isn't communist but social democratic.
The Commission for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Moldova will study and analyze the 1917-1991 period of the communist regime.
First Secretaries
