The first president of Moldova, Mircea Snegur, a Former communist who presided over the country when it gained independence from the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1997, has died.
News of his passing was announced by his former deputy prime minsiter, Constantin Tampiza on Thursday.
He said he died after battling an incurable disease.
Mr Snegur oversaw the transition to a market economy and a multiparty system, as well as the adoption of a new constitution and a national flag.
He worked as an agronomist and a director of various agricultural institutions until 1981, when he became a secretary of the Communist Party committee of Edinet district.
The former president rose through the ranks of the Communist Party of Moldavia SSR, becoming a secretary of its Central Committee in 1985 and the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (the head of state) in 1989.
He was elected as the president of independent Moldova in December 1991 with 98.2% of the vote. He was re-elected in 1996 with 61.4% of the vote.
Mr Snegur remained active in politics until his retirement in 2009. He founded his own party, the Party for Rebirth and Conciliation of Moldova (PRCM), in 1998 and served as a member of parliament until 2001.
He is survived by his daughter Natalia Gherman, who is a former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Moldova. His wife Georgeta died in 2019.
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