The PCRM was registered as a political party in 1994. The PCRM was part of the Popular Patriotic Forces Front at the time of the 1996 presidential election, in which Voronin stood as the coalition's candidate and won 10.3% of the vote, placing third. The party supported Petru Lucinschi in the second round of the election, and following Lucinschi's victory the PCRM was given two positions in the government.
1998 election
In the March 1998 parliamentary election, the PCRM won 30.1% of the vote and 40 seats, becoming the largest party in parliament; in its platform, it called for "the rebirth of a socialist society". Despite its strong showing, the PCRM was left in opposition due to the formation of a center-right coalition government, Alliance for Democracy and Reforms. Although Lucinschi later nominated Voronin as Prime Minister of Moldova in late 1999, the nomination was unsuccessful because Voronin did not have enough support in parliament.
2001 election
The PCRM received 49.9% of the vote in the February 2001 parliamentary election, winning 71 out of the 101 seats in parliament. With a PCRM parliamentary majority, Voronin was elected as President by parliament in April 2001. The Constitutional Court ruled that the President could also lead a political party, and Voronin was re-elected as party leader.
saw a great defeat for PCRM, which received only 17.48% of votes, losing more than half of its electors to PSRM and electing 21 seats. Following the elections, the party agreed to give confidence and supply to the new Gaburici Cabinet. The Agreement collapsed in June 2015 and PCRM went back into opposition. In 2016, the party suffered a large split as 14 MPS left PCRM faction and established the Social Democratic Platform for Moldova, joining the majority of Filip Cabinet. On 10 March 2017, all 14 MPs joined the Democratic Party of Moldova. Since then, the party rapidly declined in polls, losing most of its votes to PSRM and PDM.
2019 election
In the 2019 parliamentary election, the PCRM collapsed, receiving only 3,75% of votes and losing all representation in parliament.
Ideology
According to its Statute adopted in 2008, article 1, the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova is a "lawful successor and heir of the Communist Party of Moldova|Communist Party of Moldavia both in terms of ideas and traditions". While officially espousing a Leninist communist doctrine, there is debate over their policies. The Economist considers it a centre-right party, communist only in name, whereas Romanian political scientist Vladimir Tismăneanu argues that the party is communist in the classical sense, as it has not changed much since the fall of the Soviet Union. Ion Marandici, a Moldovan political scientist considers that the success story of the Moldovan Communists is mainly due to the Communists' capacity to attract the votes of the ethnic minorities and the Romanian-speakers identifying as Moldovans, by proposing a Moldovenist nation and state-project. The decline of the Communists followed after Marian Lupu, a key figure in Moldovan politics, left the Communists Party and joined the Democratic Party, thus bringing with him the Moldovan supporters of the Communists. The party is strongly opposed to any unification of Romania and Moldova.
Last proposed electoral program
For the current period of governance, the PCRM has outlined the following goals for the country:
