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While people in the U.S. were twiddling their thumbs, Twittering about plans to see Fast and Furious or run to the grocery store yesterday, thousands of Moldovan youth were busy using the social messaging network to assemble a massive rally in response to Sunday's election results and the country's bust economy.

Protesters organized using Facebook and the Twitter tag #pman, which stands for Piata Marii Adunari Nationale, a large square in the capital city Chisinau, where the demonstrators gathered.

The protesters, some of whom pushed their way into government buildings, were reacting in part to the weekend's parliamentary elections, in which the Communist Party won half of the votes – enough to make changes to the constitution and select a president. The European Union recognized the election as legitimate, but some maintain that it was fixed. As the demonstration—and live Tweets—increased in fervor, Internet was cut off in the small eastern European country's capital Chisinau, and by this morning police there had reestablished control of the major offices, according to The New York Times.

Ukraine protests in 2004 and Belarus protests in 2006 were bulked up by cell phone messages, the Times notes, but texting seems to be giving way to social networking sites as the preferred method to distribute subversive communiqués. Moldova's current government—led by President Vladimir Voronin, who has been in office since 2001—however, shows no signs of ceding to the opposition.

The Times reports that in a televised speech Voronin said the rally "well designed, well thought out, coordinated, planned and paid for." Viva la Twitter, indeed.

Image of Moldovan flags courtesy of Aurelian Sandulescu via Flickr

5 Comments

1. 1. Dan_10v11 02:20 PM 4/8/09

   I very much doubt "thousands of Moldovan youth were busy using the social messaging network to assemble a massive rally". Here's why - http://bit.ly/FAJDJ

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2. 2. peace 02:27 PM 4/8/09

   So now we're celebrating violent protests?

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3. 3. cuffshark 04:12 PM 4/8/09

   Moldova is a leftover of soviet cooperative economic practices. It has zero natural resources. It's divided internally by two totally different languages. It's precariously placed - giving it zero defensive security. One of its borders is now on the EU. And it's about the size of the district of columbia.
   
   Maybe they should be protesting the fact that they're an independent nation.
   
   Or, like Albania, they can ask the US to come in and annex them some extra land.

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4. 4. some_eu in reply to cuffshark 06:03 PM 4/8/09

   Or maybe you should make another Molotov pact, given the fact that the first one has so wonderful results? The fact that we are not all equals is not a good reason to not ask for this right. In moments like this I appreciate Iran, really. You deserve that damn bomb to get your smart brains out of your heads.

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5. 5. agurghis 06:06 PM 4/8/09

   http://savemoldova.blogspot.com/
   Here is the proof about violent protest. We protested peacefully but there were people who provoke to violent, they are police undercover, now everyone see us as violent riot group :( (Sorry for my english)

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