List of political parties in Romania

Romania
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This article lists Political Parties in Romania.

Overview

Romania has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining parliamentary majority alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. The current system was established following the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and the adoption of a new constitution in 1991; prior to these events, Romania was a single-party state under the Communist Party of Romania.

Since the early 1990s, Romanian politics saw a gradual decrease in the number of parties entering Parliament and a relative consolidation of existing parties along ideological lines. Major parties can be roughly grouped into liberal, social democratic or conservative "families".^[1] Extremist groups have a relatively low political profile in Romania, despite a surge in popularity of far right and Eurosceptic parties across Europe in the 2010s.^[2] Party switching (traseism politic) remains an issue, however, as does corruption, leading to an overall low level of public trust in political parties (12% in December 2014).^[3] To counter this perception, the two largest parties as of 2015 (the Social Democrats and National Liberals) have initiated a series of internal reforms to strengthen their integrity criteria and impose disciplinary sanctions on party members investigated or convicted on corruption charges.^[4][5][6]

Legal framework

Article 40 of the Constitution of Romania states that citizens can freely associate into political parties, with the exception of judges, military and police personnel and other civil servants which are apolitical by law.^[7] The same article bans parties which campaign against political pluralism, the rule of law, and Romania's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Romania's party system is regulated by Law no. 14/2003 on political parties; the law initially mandated a list of 25,000 supporters, residing in at least 18 counties and the Municipality of Bucharest, for a party to be formally registered. However, in February 2015, the unregistered Pirate Party of Romania filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court, arguing that the list requirement is a violation of the constitutional provisions on freedom of association. The Court subsequently struck down the requirement as unconstitutional, and on 6 May 2015, the Romanian Parliament approved a modified version of the law, which allows the formation of a political party with 3 signatures.^[8][9]

Parties represented in Parliament

Present-day political parties with parliamentary representation, in order of the number or representatives they have in the Chamber of Deputies (governing coalition in bold):

In addition, ethnic minority parties are guaranteed eighteen seats: one for each recognised minority (except Hungarians, who are already represented by the UDMR). However, they are not considered major parties, and are treated below.

Minor parties

Ethnic minority organizations

Parties with elected representation at local and county level^[11]

Parties without elected representation

• Romanian Communist Party (Partidul Comunist Român)
• Socialist Alliance Party (Partidul Alianța Socialistă)
• New Generation Party – Christian Democratic (Partidul Noua Generație – Creștin Democrat)
• "Everything For the Country" Party (Partidul "Totul Pentru Țară")
• Party of the Romanian Revolution (Partidul Revoluției Române)
• PRODEMO Party (Partidul PRODEMO)
• Romania's Rebirth Party (Partidul Renașterea României)
• Social Christian People's Union (Uniunea Populară Social Creștină)

Defunct parties

Parties no longer active:

Parties active 1859−1918

Parties active 1918−1947

The following parties were all active in Romania in the interwar period and, in some cases, through and after World War II. Dates of founding and dissolution are given, where known. Failing that, the earliest and latest dates known for activities are given.

This period saw the proliferation of numerous extremist parties inspired by fascism, socialism and Communism. The latter were effectively banned in 1924 by the so-called Mârzescu law.^[14] A succession of coups drastically altered the political landscape as Romania went through a single-party dictatorship under the National Renaissance Front (1938−1940), then a military dictatorship without political parties (1940−1944), then briefly returning to multiparty democracy before finally becoming a people's republic (1944−1947).

Communist-era parties (1947−1989)

Although distinct parties in the communist era were not politically relevant, the following were the officially recognized political forces:

Other parties were allowed to exist, with unclear status, until mid-1948.^[46]

Post−1989 parties

See also

• Politics of Romania
• List of political parties by country

Notes

References

• (in Romanian) 110 ani de social-democrație în România ("110 Years of Social Democracy in Romania"), Social Democratic Party, Ovidiu Șincai Social Democratic Institute, Bucharest, July 9, 2003
• Ion Constantinescu, "Dr. N. Lupu: «Dacă și d-ta ai fi fost bătut...»" ("Dr. N. Lupu: «If You Yourself Had Been Beaten...»"), in Magazin Istoric, August 1971
• Victor Frunză, Istoria stalinismului în România ("History of Stalinism in Romania"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1990
• (in Romanian) Victoria Gabriela Gruber, Summary of Partidul Național Liberal (Gheorghe Brătianu) (PDF file)
• (in Romanian) Gabriel Marin, "Între culpabilitate și mit: George Călinescu - Un istoric literar român în timpul regimului comunist" ("In Between Guilt and Myth: George Călinescu - A Romanian Literary Historian during the Communist Regime"), in Erasmus, 1997
• (in Romanian) Paula Mihailov, "Dubla criză a 'României profunde'" ("The Double Crisis of 'Profound Romania'"), in Jurnalul Național, July 12, 2005
• Vasile Niculae, Ion Ilincioiu, Stelian Neagoe, Doctrina țărănistă în România. Antologie de texte ("Peasant Doctrine in Romania. Collected Texts"), Editura Noua Alternativă, Social Theory Institute of the Romanian Academy, Bucharest, 1994
• Z. Ornea, Introduction and chronological table to George Panu, Amintiri de la "Junimea" din Iași ("Recollections from the Iași Junimea"), Ed. Minerva, Bucharest, 1998
• (in Romanian) Petre Otu, "1946-1947. Se pregătește guvernul Argetoianu!" ("1946-1948. An Argetoianu Government Is Under Preparation!"), in Magazin Istoric, May 2000
• Ioan Scurtu, Viața Politică din România 1918–1914 ("Political Life in Romania 1918–1914"), Editura Albatros, Bucharest, 1982
• M. Ștefan, "În umbra Cortinei de Fier" ("In the Shadow of the Iron Curtain"), in Magazin Istoric, November 1995
• Francisco Veiga, Istoria Gărzii de Fier, 1919-1941: Mistica ultranaționalismului ("History of the Iron Guard, 1919-1941: The Mystique of Ultra-Nationalism"), Humanitas, Bucharest, 1993
• Nicolae Videnie, "«Alegerile» din martie 1948: epilogul listelor electorale alternative. Obsesia unanimității — primii pași" ("The «Elections» of March 1948: an Epilogue to Alternative Electoral Lists. Unanimity Obsession — The First Steps Taken"), in Dosarele Istoriei, 11/V, 2000

External links

• "Leftist parties in Romania" at broadleft.org
• (in Romanian) Ioan Scurtu, Theodora Stănescu-Stanciu, Georgiana Margareta Scurtu, Istoria românilor între anii 1918-1940: IV. Partidele politice în primul deceniu interbelic ("Political programs of major parties in interwar Romania")