Zinaida Greceanîi

Zinaida Greceanîi Зинаи́да Греча́ная
Prime Minister of Moldova
In office 31 March 2008 – 14 September 2009
President	Vladimir Voronin Mihai Ghimpu (Acting)
Deputy	Igor Dodon
Preceded by	Vasile Tarlev
Succeeded by	Vitalie Pîrlog (Acting)
Personal details
Born	(1956-02-07) 7 February 1956 Tomsk Oblast, Russian SFSR
Political party	Party of Communists
Spouse(s)	Alexei Greceanîi
Children	2
Alma mater	Moldova State University

Zinaida Greceanîi (born 7 February 1956;^[1] Russian: Зинаида Петровна Гречаная, Zinaida Petrovna Grechanaya) is a Moldovan politician. She is a member of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova^[2] and was the Prime Minister of Moldova between 31 March 2008^[1][3] and 14 September 2009. She is Moldova's first female Prime Minister^[3] and is the second female Communist head of government in Europe, the first having been Premier Milka Planinc of Yugoslavia.^[4]

Background

Greceanîi was born in Tomsk Oblast of the Russian SFSR in the Soviet Union. Her parents, Marioara Ursu (1918–1993) and Petrea Bujor (1906–1996), were deported in 1951 from Cotiujeni, during the Operation North, because they were Jehovah's Witnesses members. Her brother died during the deportation. Zinaida Greceanîi and her parents come back in Cotiujeni only in 1968. She was baptised as Orthodox by her grandmother on mother's side.

She graduated from the Financial and Economic College in Chișinău and the State University of Moldova.^[1]

Greceanîi is married to Alexei Greceanîi and has two children.^[1]

Earlier career

She was Deputy Minister of Finances from 2000 to 2001 and First Deputy Minister of Finances from 2001 to 2002. President Vladimir Voronin appointed her as Interim Minister of Finances on 8 February 2002 and then appointed her as Minister of Finances on 26 February 2002. After serving as Finance Minister for more than three years, she was appointed by Voronin as First Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova on 10 October 2005.^[1] In the summer, she arrived first in the 2005 Chișinău election, but they were declared invalid because of the low turnout.

Prime minister

Following the resignation of Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev on 19 March 2008, President Vladimir Voronin nominated Greceanîi as Prime Minister.^[2] Cabinet of Zinaida Greceanîi was approved by Parliament on 31 March; it received 56 votes in favor out of the 101 members of Parliament. According to Greceanîi, the immediate focus of her Cabinet would on "media freedom, an active dialogue with civil society and the independence of justice".

Greceanii resigned on 9 September 2009, saying she was unable to simultaneously hold the posts of prime minister and member of parliament at the same time. On 10 September 2009, Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin signed a decree appointing Justice Minister Vitalie Pîrlog as acting Prime Minister from 14 September until a new government is formed.

Moldovan presidential election, May–June 2009

Her party won the April 2009 election with 49.48% of the vote and she won one of the 60 seats of the PCRM in the Moldovan Parliament. She was twice an unsuccessful candidate of the Communist Party for the post of the President of Moldova, on 20 May and 3 June. In both rounds, alternative candidates were also nominated by the PCRM, and obtained 0 votes and Greceanîi all 60 Communist party votes.

After the July 2009 parliamentary election, Greceanîi won again a seat in the Moldovan Parliament, but the Alliance For European Integration agreed to create a governing coalition.

See also

• Politics of Moldova

References