Communist Party of Moldavia

Communist Party of Moldavia
Partidul Comunist al Moldovei
Founded15 August 1940 (1940-08-15)
Banned23 August 1991 (1991-08-23)
Preceded byMoldavia Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Succeeded byAgrarian Party of Moldova (legal successor)
Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (claimed but not the legal successor)
HeadquartersChişinău
Ideology
Political positionFar-left
National affiliationCommunist Party of the Soviet Union
Colours  Red
Party flag

The Communist Party of Moldavia (Romanian: Partidul Comunist al Moldovei, PCM, Moldovan Cyrillic: Партидул Комунист ал Молдовей; Russian: Коммунистическая партия Молдавии, romanized: Kommunisticheskaya partiya Moldavii) was the ruling and sole legal political party of the Moldavian SSR. It was one of the fifteen republic-level parties that formed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. During World War II, it was the driving force of the Moldovan resistance against Axis occupation.

The party began to weaken politically during the Perestroika period, which was marked by riots against Soviet rule. The party leader, Semion Grossu was replaced with Petru Lucinschi on 16 November 1989.

The Communist Party was banned on 23 August 1991; subsequently, on 27 August, Moldova declared Independence and the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic came to an end. On 7 September 1993, the Parliament of Moldova lifted the ban on communist activities.