A new study by the Center Partnership for Development (CPD) shows that although women make up 44.5% of candidates in the 2025 parliamentary elections - almost achieving parity - this share has slightly decreased compared to the 2021 elections. The analysis confirms that compliance with the gender quota is essential to ensure such representation, as political parties take different approaches: some treat it as a formal obligation, while others regard it as a strategic objective. These findings provide important insights into the evolution of electoral competition.

The preliminary gender equality analysis of candidates, “2025 Parliamentary Elections: Analysis of an Electoral Competition”, was developed within the project “Strengthening Democratic Resilience in Moldova”, implemented by UNDP Moldova in partnership with UN Women Moldova and funded by Norway, Canada, Sweden, and Denmark.

Key findings of the study:

• Although the numerical presence of women on candidate lists is relatively balanced, the analysis of their placement reveals certain fluctuations. In the first 10 positions - considered the most competitive and with the highest chances of securing a parliamentary mandate - women account for 40.7% of all candidates, while in the next decile (positions 11–20) their share slightly increases to 42%.
• Although the gender quota is respected, men dominate the top positions on the lists, while women are concentrated in quintiles with lower chances of election.
• Some parties limited themselves strictly to meeting the minimum mandatory quota, while others went beyond the legal requirements by including over 50% women among their candidates.
• The average age of candidates running for parliamentary seats is higher than in previous elections. Parties tend to place older candidates in the top positions. In the first 10 positions, the average age is 50.5 years, while in the last 10 positions it drops to 39.1 years—a difference of over 11 years.
• The detailed analysis shows that younger candidates are predominantly placed toward the end of the lists, where their chances of entering Parliament are lower.
• Approximately 70% of candidates come from urban areas. More than half of the candidates (45.4%) are from Chișinău, while the next largest localities—Bălți, Ialoveni, Comrat, and Criuleni—each contribute less than 4%. The remaining districts provide very small fractions, mostly under 1% of the total. This urban concentration is explained by the greater resources available in cities, as well as the fact that rural populations are smaller and predominantly older.