The members were elected by the various congresses, soviets, parties and professional and ethnic organizations existing in Bessarabia in the wake of the Russian Revolution.
27 October] 1917, the Soldiers' council proclaimed the autonomy of Bessarabia, and summoned for the election of a representative body (diet), called Sfatul Țării.
The council prescribed the number of representatives allocated to each organization, and imposed a fixed ethnic composition, significantly different from the one recorded by previous Russian Imperial censuses.
Of the 150 Diet members of Sfatul Țării, 105 were Moldavians, 15 Ukrainians, 13 Jews, 6 Russians, 3 Bulgarians, 2 Germans, 2 Gagauzians, 1 Pole, 1 Armenian, 1 Greek, 1 unknown.
2 December] 1917, Sfatul Țării proclaimed the Moldavian Democratic Federative Republic, with Ion Inculeț as President.