The Agrarian Party of Moldova (PAM) is a social democratic and agrarian political party in Moldova which was founded in November 1991 by reformed members of the Communist Party of Moldavia. The party originated as a 60-member parliamentary club which was founded in 1990, and it became Moldova's first ruling party upon independence in August 1991, with the former communist head of state Mircea Snegur leading the party. The PAM consisted mostly of the former Communist agricultural and industrial elite and championed Moldovan sovereignty against both Moldova and Russia, and a 1994 referendum resulted in 95.4% of Moldovans voting to remain separate from Romania. The party experienced a major split in 1996 after Snegur left to form the right-wing Party of Rebirth and Conciliation of Moldova (PRCM) and Petru Lucinschi appealed to left-wing Moldovans and Slavs. Lucinschi was elected President that same year, defeating Snegur for re-election. Lusinschi supported close ties with Russia and a slow transition to capitalism, and the party collapsed at the 1998 election, as economic malaise and the decline of ethnic identity enabled the resurgence of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova. By 2009, the now-minor PAM supported the Communist government.