Moldova’s Socialist Party (PSRM) has launched its campaign for the July 11 general election by announcing anti-LGBT bills.

The PSRM, led by former president Igor Dodon, recently announced an alliance with the Moldovan Communist Party (PCRM) ahead of the general election. 

The PSRM is trying to prevent a defeat at the hands of President Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) after she took the presidency from its leader Igor Dodon last year, and recently announced an alliance with the Moldovan Communist Party (PCRM) to fight the election. 

With their appeal to the “traditional values” of the family, the left-wing but socially conservative coalition aims to consolidate their support among the traditional electorate, as the same time framing Sandu’s PAS as pro-LGBT.

This would go down badly with the more conservative segments of the electorate, though in fact the PAS has always avoided topics such as LGBT or unification with Romania that deeply divide the Moldovan electorate. On the other hand, the anti-LGBT rhetoric is among the areas where the leftist coalition, whose members' poll ratings have dwindled, can still hope to win the electorate’s support against pro-EU PAS.

PSRM MP Vasile Bolea announced in a briefing at the parliament that his party is drafting some initiatives related to “consolidating the institution of the family”.

"It is about draft amendments to the constitution, about the legislative support of the traditional family, the rebirth and development of the idea of family, as well as the introduction of a criminal penalty for promoting non-traditional sexual relations," Bolea stated.

Notably, Moldova’s constitution is already highly conservative in this respect, but the Socialists want to make it even more restrictive.

"We propose to supplement Article 48 of the constitution with the following provisions: the state prohibits the registration of same-sex marriages, the children's parents are the father and the mother. Such provisions have been included in the national constitutions of some countries such as Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Russian Federation,” PSRM deputy claims.

At least regards Romania’s constitution, the PSRM MP’s claim is not entirely accurate: Article 48 speaks of “spouses” with no reference to gender. Indeed, the legislation does not allow same-sex marriages in Romania, but this is not inked in the constitution (a referendum on this topic failed amid weak turnout) and a Constitutional Court decision as well as other ECHR rulings opened the door for legal amendments toward more flexible regulations.

Earlier this week, the leaders of the PSRM and PCRM held a meeting to discuss the creation of a common electoral bloc for the early parliamentary election.

Following Dodon’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election, some left-wing voters are expected to migrate from the Socialists to the Communists, therefore the coalition of the two leftist parties will capitalise on a segment of the electorate that has been so far dominant in Moldova, yet constantly shrinking. Sandu’s victory in the presidential election last autumn indicates that the dominance of the left-wing parties might be over. 

Meanwhile, the pro-EU electorate seems ready to fully back President Maia Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS). The PAS has gained momentum in polls since the 2020 presidential election, and is now rated well above the Socialist Party along a favourable trend.