Party of Action and Solidarity

The party was created amid the 2015–2016 protests in Moldova and growing dissatisfaction with the ruling parties among citizens. On 23 December 2015, Maia Sandu posted a YouTube video in which she announced her intention to form a new political party. Her stated reason for doing so was the creation of a grassroots party, that would function based on the principles of internal democracy and would be financed through small donations.[6] Sandu was elected as leader of the PAS on 15 May 2016 and the party was officially registered by the Ministry of Justice on 26 May. At the time of registration, the party had 7500 members and 20 local organizations[7]

In the 2019 Moldovan parliamentary election, the PAS participated as a member of the NOW electoral alliance, which gathered 26.8% of the votes. After the alliance split into two separate parliamentary groups, the PAS ended up with 15 seats. On 6 June, the Party announced that it was ready to form a coalition government with the pro-Russian Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova(PSRM) with the goal of freeing state institutions, which in their opinion were under oligarchic control. After the coalition was formed, PSRM leader Zinaida Greceanîi was elected as Speaker of the Parliament and the Sandu Cabinet was inaugurated.[8] Largely because of the significant ideological differences between the ruling parties, the government only lasted for 5 months and was ousted on 12 November after the PSRM and the Democratic Party of Moldova voted in favor of a motion of no confidence.[9]

After the ousting of the Sandu cabinet, the PAS has been in Opposition. In the 2020 Moldovan presidential election the party’s candidate and leader, Maia Sandu, was elected as President of Moldova. According to Moldovan law, the president cannot be a member of a political party which resulted in Sandu resigning from the office of party president and renouncing her party membership. Until the next party congress, the post of PAS president is held by first vice president Igor Grosu on an interim basis.[10]

According to its program, the PAS supports the idea of an economy based on private initiative and is in favor of a significant reduction of bureaucracy in all stages of business.[11] In the 2020 Moldovan presidential election campaign, the party’s candidate, Maia Sandu, proposed raising the minimum pension to 2,000 lei (around 117 USD). [12]

The PAS supports the integration of Moldova into the European Union, establishing a strategic partnership with the United States and maintaining a normal and non-confrontational relationship with Russia. The party supports strengthening Moldova’s relationship with Romania but does not explicitly endorse the unification of Romania and Moldova.[11][13]