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Turnout | 31.94% ( 6.20pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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All 136 seats in the Senate 69 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
All 330 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 166 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 6 December 2020 to elect the 136 members of the Senate and the 330 constituent members of the Chamber of Deputies.
While the Social Democratic Party (PSD) remained the largest political party in the Parliament, its popular vote share dropped considerably, more specifically by a third. Following the elections, a centre-right coalition government was formed by the National Liberal Party (PNL), USR PLUS, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (UDMR/RMDSZ) (i.e. the former Cîțu Cabinet) with former Minister of Public Finance and former PNL president Florin Cîțu as Prime Minister.
The final voter turnout was approximately 32%, the lowest since the end of the communist era in Romania, partially due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
The 330 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by several methods: 308 are elected from 42 multi-member constituencies based on counties and Bucharest, using proportional representation, four are elected using proportional representation from a constituency representing Romanians living abroad. Parties must pass a threshold of 5% of the national vote or at least 20% of the vote in four constituencies. Further seats (currently 18) can be added for ethnic minority groups that compete in the elections and pass a special (lower) threshold (calculated as 10% of the votes needed to obtain one of the regular 312 seats). [1] [ failed verification ]
The 136 members of the Senate are also elected using party-list proportional representation, but from 43 constituencies based on the 41 counties (a total of 121 seats), Bucharest (13 seats), and one for Romanians living overseas (two seats). [1]
The previous election saw the Social Democratic Party (PSD) led by Liviu Dragnea emerge as the largest political party in the parliament, although they fell short of an absolute majority. Nevertheless, the PSD eventually established a coalition agreement with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), forming the Grindeanu Cabinet in January 2017. However, the new government did not last long and was replaced by the Tudose Cabinet in June 2017, which was also short-lived. Ultimately, the Dăncilă Cabinet took office in January 2018. It was dismissed by a motion of no confidence in October 2019, and replaced by a National Liberal Party (PNL) minority government under Ludovic Orban in November 2019. The Orban Cabinet was dismissed by a motion of no confidence on the 5 February 2020, but took office again on 14 March 2020.
The government decided parliamentary elections would be held on 6 December 2020. [2] [3] On 30 September 2020, the president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, proposed on Facebook that the elections be postponed to March 2021. [4] On 2 October 2020, former Save Romania Union (USR) deputy Adrian Dohotaru submitted a bill to the Senate, proposing the parliamentary elections be held on 14 March 2021, which received support from the Social Democratic Party (PSD). [5] On 7 October 2020, the first vice-president of the PSD, Sorin Grindeanu, claimed that the government's plan would lead to a surge in COVID-19 cases. [6] On 8 October, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu and Victor Ponta announced in a press conference that their parties will run in the elections on a shared list under a single name: Social-Liberal PRO Romania (Romanian : PRO România Social-Liberal). [7] [8]
PSD president Marcel Ciolacu announced on 15 October that the World Health Organization's representative in Romania, Alexandru Rafila, was one of the party's candidates for the parliamentary elections. He will be top of the list of deputies for the Bucharest circumscription, while Gabriela Firea will lead the list of senators. [9]
The following table presents the composition of the Parliament of Romania during the 2016–2020 parliamentary term.
Party | Abbr. | Founded | Leader | Ideology | 2016 result | Seats at dissolution | Government support | Ref | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes (%) | Seats | Grindeanu (2017) Tudose (2017–18) Dăncilă (2018–19) | Orban I (2019–20) Orban II (2020) | ||||||||
Social Democratic Party (Romanian : Partidul Social Democrat) | PSD | 2001 | Marcel Ciolacu | Social democracy Social conservatism Left-wing nationalism Soft Euroscepticism | 45.48% D 45.68% S | 154 / 329 67 / 136 | 123 / 329 68 / 136 | Coalition government | Opposition | [10] [11] [12] | |
National Liberal Party (Romanian : Partidul Național Liberal) | PNL | 1990 (1875) | Ludovic Orban | Conservative liberalism Liberal conservatism Pro-Europeanism | 20.04% D 20.42% S | 69 / 329 30 / 136 | 82 / 329 31 / 136 | Opposition | Minority government | [13] [14] | |
Save Romania Union (Romanian : Uniunea Salvați România) | USR | 2015 [15] | Dan Barna | Anti-corruption Liberalism Economic liberalism | 8.87% D 8.92% S | 30 / 329 13 / 136 | 25 / 329 13 / 136 | Opposition | Supporting government | [16] [17] | |
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania ( Hungarian: Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség; Romanian : Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România) | UDMR RMDSZ | 1989 | Hunor Kelemen | Hungarian minority interests Liberal conservatism Christian democracy | 6.19% D 6.24% S | 21 / 329 9 / 136 | 20 / 329 9 / 136 | Supporting PSD–ALDE government (until August 2019) | Opposition (since February 2020) | [18] [19] | |
People's Movement Party (Romanian : Partidul Mișcarea Populară) | PMP | 2014 | Eugen Tomac | Liberal conservatism Christian democracy Economic liberalism | 5.35% D 5.65% S | 18 / 329 8 / 136 | 16 / 329 6 / 136 | Opposition | Supporting government | [20] [21] | |
Social-Liberal PRO Romania (Romanian : PRO România Social-Liberal) | PRO | 2018 | Victor Ponta | Social liberalism Pro-Europeanism | Did not exist | 21 / 329 3 / 136 | Opposition (formed February 2018) | Opposition | [22] [23] [24] [25] | ||
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (Romanian : Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților) | ALDE | 2015 | Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu | Liberalism Conservative liberalism Soft Euroscepticism | 5.62% D 6.01% S | 20 / 329 9 / 136 | Subsequently merged with PRO Romania in 2020 | Government minority partner until August 2019 | — | ||
Humanist Power Party (Romanian : Partidul Puterii Umaniste) | PPU-SL | 2015 | Daniel Ionașcu | Humanism Social liberalism | 0.04% D 0.04% S | 0 / 329 0 / 136 | 7 / 329 0 / 136 | — | Opposition | [26] | |
Ethnic minority parties | – | – | – | 1.34% D 0.01% S | 17 / 329 0 / 136 | 17 / 329 0 / 136 | Neutral (Mostly supporting government) | [27] | |||
Non-inscrits | – | – | – | – | 12 / 329 0 / 136 | — | Neutral | [28] | |||
The chart below shows opinion polls conducted for the 2020 Romanian parliamentary election. The trend lines represent local regressions (LOESS).
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. |
Exit polls
Date | Poll source | Sample size | PSD | PNL | USR | PLUS | UDMR | PRO | ALDE | PMP | AUR | Others | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 December 2020 | 2020 parliamentary elections | 28.9 110 | 25.2 93 | 15.4 55 | 5.7 21 | 4.1 0 | 4.8 0 | 9.1 33 | 6.8 18 [lower-alpha 2] | 3.7 | |||
6 December 2020 [lower-alpha 3] | CURS-Avangarde | – | 30.5 | 29.0 | 15.9 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.2 | 3.7 | 1.5 | ||
6 December 2020 [lower-alpha 3] | Sociopol | – | 28.0 | 28.0 | 16.3 | 6.2 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 5.7 | Tie | ||
6 December 2020 [lower-alpha 4] | CURS-Avangarde | – | 30.6 | 29.1 | 16.4 | 5.7 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.3 | 2.9 | 1.5 | ||
6 December 2020 [lower-alpha 4] | Sociopol | – | 28.3 | 28.3 | 16.8 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 4.6 | 5.9 | 3.4 | Tie | ||
6 December 2020 | INSOMAR IC | – | 28.2 | 32.8 | 15.6 | 5.8 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 3.0 | 4.1 | 4.6 | ||
6 Dec 2020 | PNL | — | 27.0 | 30.0 | 23.0 | 5.5 | 4.2 | 3.0 | 6.5 | – | 3.0 | ||
3 Dec 2020 | Politico | — | 28 | 31 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 3 | – | – | 3 | ||
2–3 Dec 2020 | IRES | 1,067 | 35 | 32 | 16 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | ||
1 Dec 2020 | PMP | — | 31 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
30 Nov 2020 | PRO | — | 22.0 | 31.0 | 17.0 | 5.0 | 7.8 | 3.0 | – | 14.2 | 9.0 | ||
28–29 Nov 2020 | Sociopol | 1,033 | 28 | 29 | 13 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 1 | ||
22–28 Nov 2020 | IRSOP | 1,004 | 30 | 33 | 17 | 5 | 7 | 3 | – | 5 | 3 | ||
6–27 Nov 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 23.6 | 28.5 | 18.0 | 4.7 | 9.5 | 3.3 | 4.6 | – | 7.8 | 4.9 | |
20–25 Nov 2020 | Verifield | 1,100 | 22.0 | 31.3 | 17.0 | 5.4 | 9.3 | 4.8 | – | 10.2 | 9.3 | ||
1–10 Nov 2020 | CURS | 1,067 | 29 | 32 | 16 | 5 | 6 | 7 | – | – | 3 | ||
9 Nov 2020 | PNL | — | 27.0 | 32.0 | 21.0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | – | 3.0 | 5.0 | ||
25–30 Oct 2020 | BCS | 1,482 | 28.6 | 32.2 | 17.6 | 4.8 | 5.2 | 7.4 | – | 4.2 | 3.6 | ||
7–28 Oct 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 21.7 | 32.6 | 20.4 | 5.1 | 8.9 | 2.5 | 4.8 | – | 4.3 | 10.9 | |
9–17 Oct 2020 | USR–PLUS | — | 23 | 30 | 23 | 5 | 8 | 5 | – | 6 | 7 | ||
8–11 Oct 2020 | CURS | 800 | 31 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | 1 | |
8 October 2020 | ALDE and PRO Romania merge into PRO Romania Social Liberal [7] [29] | ||||||||||||
27 September 2020 | Local elections | ||||||||||||
7–23 Sep 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 19.6 | 34.7 | 17 | 5.3 | 9.5 | 3.0 | 4.5 | – | 6.4 | 15.1 | |
6–26 Aug 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 20.8 | 33.6 | 18.3 | 5.7 | 10.6 | 2.4 | 4.1 | – | 4.6 | 12.8 | |
15 August 2020 | USR and PLUS merge [30] | ||||||||||||
29 Jul–5 Aug 2020 | CURS | 1,100 | 28 | 31 | 14 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | – | 6 | 3 | |
10–29 Jul 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 23.4 | 33.4 | 17.2 | 5.6 | 9.7 | 3.4 | 3.9 | – | 3.4 | 10 | |
19–30 Jun 2020 | CURS | 1,100 | 28 | 32 | 16 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | – | 2 | 4 | |
5–27 Jun 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 21.9 | 33.0 | 12.3 | 5.8 | 3.4 | 11.2 | 3.7 | 4.7 | – | 4.0 | 11.1 |
8–27 May 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 23.0 | 32.6 | 11.6 | 5.1 | 5.1 | 11.2 | 4.2 | 3.7 | – | 3.1 | 9.6 |
15–26 May 2020 | Avangarde | 1,000 | 29 | 35 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | |
21 May 2020 | PSD | — | 27 | 35 | 16 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4 | – | – | 8 |
15–20 May 2020 | INSCOP | 1,132 | 25.8 | 38.5 | 10.2 | 6.0 | 9.4 | 3.6 | 3.5 | – | 2.9 | 12.7 | |
1–7 May 2020 | BCS | 1,545 | 22.5 | 33.0 | 22.0 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 1.4 | 6.5 | – | 4.3 | 10.5 | |
6–24 Apr 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 24.8 | 33.0 | 10.8 | 5.1 | 5.5 | 8.2 | 4.4 | 3.4 | – | 4.8 | 8.2 |
1–15 Apr 2020 | BCS | 1,008 | 22.9 | 31.3 | 19.9 | 3.6 | 8.8 | 2.5 | 6.7 | – | 4.2 | 8.4 | |
5–26 Mar 2020 | IMAS | — | 23.9 | 36.7 | 12.5 | 6.5 | 4.5 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 3.5 | – | 3.0 | 12.8 |
11–28 Feb 2020 | IMAS | 1,010 | 25.8 | 40.7 | 10.0 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.3 | 3.6 | – | 3.1 | 14.9 |
13–31 Jan 2020 | IMAS | 1,007 | 20.6 | 47.4 | 12.4 | 3.4 | 4.7 | 3.8 | 3.2 | 1.8 | – | 2.7 | 26.8 |
20–30 Jan 2020 | CURS | 1,229 | 26 | 37 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | – | 1 | 11 | |
13–18 Dec 2019 | Sociopol | 1,000 | 23 | 47 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | – | 3 | 24 | |
4–18 Dec 2019 | IMAS | 1,011 | 18.5 | 45.0 | 11.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 6.4 | 3.5 | 3.0 | – | 4.6 | 26.5 |
12–17 Dec 2019 | CURS | 1,067 | 31 | 35 | 14 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | – | 1 | 4 | |
11–27 Nov 2019 | IMAS | 1,011 | 21.3 | 39.0 | 12.6 | 5.6 | 4.2 | 6.4 | 3.3 | 2.9 | – | 4.7 | 17.7 |
24 November 2019 | Iohannis re-elected President of Romania with 66.09% of the vote | ||||||||||||
25 Oct–3 Nov 2019 | USR | 1,225 | 24.0 | 38.2 | 20.0 | 4.5 | 4.8 | – | 4.3 | – | 4.2 | 14.2 | |
8–28 Oct 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 21.2 | 29.6 | 16.4 | 5.6 | 5.5 | 10.7 | 4.3 | 3.4 | – | 4.4 | 8.4 |
15–23 Oct 2019 | USR | — | 24.9 | 36.8 | 19.9 | 4.0 | 6.5 | – | 4.0 | – | 3.9 | 11.9 | |
12–19 Oct 2019 | BCS | 1,117 | 23.8 | 36.3 | 16.8 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 3.3 | 5.6 | – | 2.9 | 12.5 | |
10 October 2019 | Dăncilă ousted as Prime Minister following a vote of no confidence from the opposition parties in the Parliament. | ||||||||||||
9–28 Sep 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 19.5 | 27.7 | 17.9 | 5.2 | 5.3 | 9.1 | 6.2 | 3.3 | – | 5.3 | 8.2 |
3–24 Sep 2019 | USR | 1,500 | 25.3 | 36.8 | 21.2 | 2.9 | 5.6 | – | 3.2 | – | 5.2 | 11.5 | |
16–20 Sep 2019 | Socio-Data | 1,070 | 25 | 28 | 22 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 5 | – | 2 | 3 | |
9–13 Sep 2019 | Socio-Data | 1,070 | 26 | 32 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 3 | – | 2 | 6 | |
2–6 Sep 2019 | Socio-Data | 1,070 | 24 | 32 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 5 | – | 2 | 8 | |
26–30 Aug 2019 | Socio-Data | 1,070 | 22 | 26 | 24 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 5 | – | 3 | 2 | |
19–31 Aug 2019 | Sociopol | 1,001 | 20 | 35 | 16 | 3 | 11 | 5 | 5 | – | 5 | 15 | |
26–30 Aug 2019 | Verifield | 1,000 | 25 | 28 | 23 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 2 | – | 4 | 3 | |
5–28 Aug 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 17.9 | 28.4 | 19.8 | 5.5 | 4.6 | 8.7 | 7.4 | 2.9 | – | 4.8 | 8.6 |
19 Jul–5 Aug 2019 | CURS | 1,600 | 24 | 31 | 20 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 5 | – | 1 | 7 | |
15 Jul–2 Aug 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 19.4 | 25.5 | 21.4 | 6.0 | 4.2 | 9.0 | 7.3 | 2.9 | – | 4.2 | 4.1 |
17–23 Jul 2019 | BCS | 1,128 | 25.4 | 34.2 | 18.6 | 4.6 | 4.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 | – | 1.1 | 8.8 | |
28 Jun–8 Jul 2019 | CURS | 1,067 | 26 | 29 | 22 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | – | 2 | 3 | |
7–26 Jun 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 18.9 | 27.5 | 17.6 | 7.6 | 2.5 | 9.8 | 8.5 | 3.7 | – | 3.8 | 8.6 |
27 May 2019 | PSD Leader Liviu Dragnea jailed for 3 years and a half | ||||||||||||
26 May 2019 | European elections | 22.5 | 27.0 | 22.4 | 5.3 | 6.4 | 4.1 | 5.8 | – | 6.5 | 4.5 | ||
2–20 May 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 21.4 | 29.3 | 14.4 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 8.0 | 10.2 | 5.5 | – | 1.7 | 7.9 |
5–28 Apr 2019 | CURS | 1,500 | 32 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 5 | – | 2 | 7 | |
12–25 Mar 2019 | CURS | 1,067 | 31 | 23 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 6 | – | 4 | 8 | |
1–21 Feb 2019 | IMAS | 1,010 | 23.4 | 23.6 | 10.5 | 8.0 | 5.0 | 11.1 | 12.4 | 3.5 | – | 2.5 | 0.2 |
21 Jan–6 Feb 2019 | CURS | 1,067 | 31 | 21 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 5 | – | 7 | 10 |
28 Jan–4 Feb 2019 | Sociopol | 1,003 | 33 | 20 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 2 | – | 7 | 13 |
11–30 Jan 2019 | IMAS | 1,011 | 25.3 | 22.1 | 11.0 | 8.9 | 4.4 | 8.1 | 13.4 | 3.8 | – | 3.2 | 3.2 |
12–20 Jan 2019 | BCS | — | 23.0 | 23.7 | 6.5 | 8.1 | 4.8 | 10.7 | 8.1 | 9.3 | – | 5.8 | 0.7 |
Jan 2019 | PNL | 26,000 | 30.2 | 27.0 | 10.2 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 11.6 | 4.2 | – | 1.3 | 3.2 |
4–20 Dec 2018 | IMAS | 1,010 | 25.2 | 26.1 | 11.5 | 8.1 | 4.6 | 6.2 | 9.6 | 2.5 | – | 6.2 | 0.9 |
24 Nov–9 Dec 2018 | CURS | 1,067 | 33 | 20 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 5 | – | 6 | 13 |
Nov 2018 | IMAS | 1,010 | 24.9 | 23.3 | 14.8 | 8.2 | 5.8 | – | 11.7 | 2.1 | – | 9.2 | 1.6 |
Oct 2018 | IMAS | — | 27.6 | 21.9 | 13.1 | 9.6 | 4.7 | – | 10.6 | 4.1 | – | 8.4 | 5.7 |
6–7 Oct 2018 | Constitutional referendum fails due to insufficient turnout | ||||||||||||
3–4 Oct 2018 | Sociopol | 873 | 38 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 10 | 1 | – | 8 | 15 |
20 Sep–1 Oct 2018 | CURS | 1,067 | 37 | 22 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 5 | – | 3 | 15 |
Sep 2018 | IMAS | — | 28.1 | 27.1 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 5.6 | – | 11.4 | 2.7 | – | 5.5 | 1.0 |
22–27 Sep 2018 | Sociopol | 1,004 | 34 | 20 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 2 | – | 8 | 16 |
7–20 Aug 2018 | Sociopol | 1,005 | 35 | 19 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 3 | – | 5 | 16 |
Jul 2018 | IRI | — | 26 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 1 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 28 | 2 |
Jun 2018 | IMAS | 1,200 | 28.4 | 29.2 | 11.3 | 8.0 | 5.0 | – | 8.6 | 2.8 | – | 6.7 | 0.8 |
23 Jun–1 Jul 2018 | CURS | 1,067 | 37 | 24 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | – | 4 | 13 |
22–26 Jun 2018 | Sociopol | 917 | 41 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 1 | – | 3 | 21 |
28 May–8 Jun 2018 | Sociopol | 1,003 | 40 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 1 | – | 9 | 22 |
27 Apr–8 May 2018 | CURS | 1,067 | 39 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5 | – | 5 | 14 |
Mar 2018 | CURS | — | 39 | 27 | 7 | – | – | – | 12 | 5 | – | 10 | 12 |
27 Feb–5 Mar 2018 | Sociopol | 1,000 | 34 | 33 | 12 | – | 6 | – | 5 | 5 | – | 5 | 1 |
20 February 2018 | PRO Romania is founded, as a split-off from PSD. | ||||||||||||
Feb 2018 | IMAS | 1,010 | 28.6 | 29.4 | 11.2 | – | 6.0 | – | 10.6 | 4.6 | – | 9.6 | 0.8 |
29 January 2018 | The Dăncilă Cabinet takes office, with the supply and confidence vote on behalf of the UDMR and other MPs from national minorities. | ||||||||||||
16 January 2018 | Prime minister Tudose resigns, followed by other ministers. | ||||||||||||
3–10 Jan 2018 | CURS | 1,068 | 42 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 9 | 5 | – | 6 | 15 |
24 Nov–7 Dec 2017 | Avangarde | 700 | 46 | 23 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 13 | 4 | – | 4 | 23 |
Nov 2017 | CURS | 1,067 | 43 | 27 | 5 | – | 6 | – | 9 | 6 | – | 4 | 16 |
Sep 2017 | IMAS | 1,000 | 38.8 | 30.9 | 6.8 | – | 5.0 | – | 8.1 | 3.0 | – | 7.4 | 7.9 |
22 Sep–5 Oct 2017 | Sociopol | — | 61 | 24 | 2 | – | 3 | – | 4 | 3 | – | 3 | 37 |
28 Aug–14 Sep 2017 | Sociopol | 1,005 | 51 | 27 | 7 | – | 4 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 2 | 24 |
11–23 Aug 2017 | Avangarde | 710 | 46 | 25 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 7 | 21 |
14–29 Jun 2017 | Ministers resign. A motion of no-confidence is passed against the Grindeanu cabinet with PSD support. The Tudose Cabinet is afterwards sworn in. | ||||||||||||
15–22 Jun 2017 | Avangarde | 781 | 46 | 30 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 6 | 5 | – | 1 | 16 |
Apr 2017 | IMAS | — | 40.6 | 25.4 | 8.2 | – | – | – | 8.5 | – | – | – | 15.2 |
6–14 Mar 2017 | Sociopol | 1,007 | 47 | 21 | 12 | – | 5 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 6 | 26 |
18 Jan–5 Mar 2017 | Street protests force the government to withdraw some of its proposed policies | ||||||||||||
Jan 2017 | IMAS | — | 49.0 | 20.7 | 8.3 | – | – | – | 6.8 | – | – | – | 28.3 |
4 January 2017 | The Grindeanu Cabinet (PSD–ALDE coalition) assumes office | ||||||||||||
11 December 2016 | 2016 elections | 45.5 154 | 20.0 69 | 8.9 30 | – | 6.2 21 | – | 5.6 20 | 5.4 18 | – | 6.3 17 [lower-alpha 2] | 25.5 |
An 80-year-old man from Teiu, Argeș fell into cardiac arrest and died outside a polling station on election day. He was known to have heart problems. [31] [32]
Two polling stations from Sector 3 of Bucharest had their voting suspended: for about an hour at polling station 551, after a member of the electoral bureau tested positive for COVID-19; and for two and a half hours at station 643, after the death of a voter. [33]
Participation was 33.30% and 5.9 million valid votes were cast. [34] After counting all votes, but before the settlement of any appeals, PSD has won around 29.5% of the votes, PNL around 25.5%, USR PLUS around 15.5%, AUR around 9%, and UDMR around 6%. The high result of the quasi-unknown party AUR was considered a huge surprise, while PMP and PRO Romania both failed to get 5% of the votes required to win any seats. [35]
Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Social Democratic Party | 1,732,276 | 29.32 | 47 | –20 | |
National Liberal Party | 1,511,225 | 25.58 | 41 | +11 | |
USR PLUS | 936,862 | 15.86 | 25 | +12 | |
Alliance for the Union of Romanians | 541,935 | 9.17 | 14 | New | |
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania | 348,262 | 5.89 | 9 | 0 | |
People's Movement Party | 291,484 | 4.93 | 0 | –8 | |
PRO Romania Social Liberal | 244,225 | 4.13 | 0 | –9 | |
Ecologist Party of Romania | 78,654 | 1.33 | 0 | 0 | |
Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal) | 70,536 | 1.19 | 0 | 0 | |
Greater Romania Party | 38,474 | 0.65 | 0 | 0 | |
National Rebirth Alliance | 23,773 | 0.40 | 0 | New | |
Romanian Socialist Party | 23,093 | 0.39 | 0 | 0 | |
Green Party | 23,085 | 0.39 | 0 | 0 | |
New Romania Party | 19,516 | 0.33 | 0 | 0 | |
Noua Dreaptă | 4,345 | 0.07 | 0 | 0 | |
Social Democratic Workers' Party | 3,855 | 0.07 | 0 | New | |
National Peasant Party Maniu-Mihalache | 2,803 | 0.05 | 0 | New | |
Right Alternative | 2,233 | 0.04 | 0 | New | |
Romanian Nation Party | 2,061 | 0.03 | 0 | New | |
Communists' Party | 763 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
Re:Start Romania Party | 753 | 0.01 | 0 | New | |
National Unity Bloc | 410 | 0.01 | 0 | 0 | |
National Force | 268 | 0.00 | 0 | New | |
Independents | 7,440 | 0.13 | 0 | 0 | |
Total | 5,908,331 | 100.00 | 136 | 0 | |
Valid votes | 5,908,331 | 97.53 | |||
Invalid/blank votes | 149,429 | 2.47 | |||
Total votes | 6,057,760 | 100.00 | |||
Registered voters/turnout | 18,964,642 | 31.94 | |||
Source: BEC |
On 18 December 2020 the National Liberal Party (PNL), the USR PLUS, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) announced that they had reached a coalition agreement, and proposed finance minister Florin Cîțu as prime minister. The government would have two deputy prime ministers (one from USR PLUS and one from UDMR) and 18 ministries, with 9 allocated for the PNL, 6 for USR PLUS, and 3 for UDMR. The allocations are as follows (with newly created ministries italicized): [36]
Cîțu was officially appointed as Prime Minister-designate on 22 December by President Klaus Iohannis. On 23 December, the Cabinet was invested by the parliament and took oath of office on the same evening.
The Romanian Electoral Authority stated that the campaign financing publicly subsidies amounted to a grand total of 166,850,315.50 Romanian Lei. The parties/candidates were required to achieve at least 3% of the vote to apply for a public subsidy of their campaign expenditures. [37]
Romania's political framework is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic where the Prime Minister is the head of government while the President, according to the constitution, has a more symbolic role, is responsible for the foreign policy, signs certain decrees, approves laws promulgated by the parliament, and nominates the head of government. Romania has a democratic, multi-party system, with legislative power vested in the government and the two chambers of the Parliament, more specifically the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. From 1948 until 1989, the communist rule political structure took place in the framework of a one-party socialist republic governed by the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) as its only legal party.
The Social Democratic Party is the largest social democratic political party in Romania and also the largest overall political party in the country, aside from European Parliament level, where it is the second largest by total number of political representatives, after the National Liberal Party (PNL). It was founded by Ion Iliescu, Romania's first democratically elected president at the 1990 Romanian general election. It is currently part of the National Coalition for Romania (CNR), which is a big tent grand coalition comprising also the National Liberal Party (PNL). The CNR formerly included the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) until mid June 2023.
The National Liberal Party is a social-conservative political party in Romania. Re-founded in mid January 1990, shortly after the Revolution of 1989 which culminated in the fall of communism in Romania, it claims the legacy of the major political party of the same name, active between 1875 and 1947 in the Kingdom of Romania. Based on this historical legacy, it often presents itself as the first formally constituted political party in the country and the oldest of its kind from the family of European liberal parties as well.
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house in Romania's bicameral parliament. It has 330 total seats to which deputies are elected by direct popular vote using party-list proportional representation to serve four-year terms. Additionally, the organisation of each national ethnic minority is entitled to a seat in the Chamber.
Klaus Werner Iohannis, sometimes referred to by his initials KWI in the Romanian press, is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former physics teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 2014, after previously serving as the leader of the Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) between 2002 and 2013. Prior to entering national politics, he was a physics teacher at the Samuel von Brukenthal National College in his native Sibiu.
Dacian Julien Cioloș is a Romanian agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Agriculture Minister under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu between October 2007 and December 2008. In November 2009, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso nominated him to be the next Agriculture Commissioner, a position he assumed in February 2010 and held until his term expired in November 2014. In November 2015, President Klaus Iohannis named him Prime Minister; Cioloș assumed office after receiving approval from Parliament.
Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 11 December 2016. They were the first held under a new electoral system adopted in 2015, which saw a return to the proportional electoral system last used in the 2004 elections. The new electoral legislation provides a norm of representation for deputies of 73,000 inhabitants and 168,000 inhabitants for senators, which decreased the number of MPs.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats was a minor nominally liberal political party in Romania which was officially absorbed in its entirety by the National Liberal Party (PNL), from which it initially seceded in 2015, during late March 2022. Throughout its relatively short political history, it was mostly associated with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) at governance, firstly between 2014 and 2015 and the once more for the last time between 2017 and 2019.
The Save Romania Union is a liberal political party active in Romania, currently the third largest party in the Parliament of Romania with 41 deputies and 20 senators, and a fifth at local level nationwide, after the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) and the People's Movement Party (PMP), two smaller centre-right political parties in the country.
Presidential elections were held in Romania on 10 November 2019, with a second round held on 24 November 2019. They were the eighth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. Incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014, was eligible for re-election. He subsequently defeated former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Viorica Dăncilă in the second round of the election by a landslide, receiving 66 percent of the vote – the second-highest vote share on record in this type of elections after Ion Iliescu.
The Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity was a pro-European, liberal political party established on 26 October 2018, whose president was Dacian Cioloș, former Prime Minister of Romania from 2015 until 2017, elected on 26 January 2019. The party had its origin in the Movement Romania Together (MRÎ), a project which they gave up due to the setting up delay in court. The party merged in 2021 with the Save Romania Union (USR) with which it has been in a political alliance called 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance from 2019 to 2021, then formally activating as a sole, unified party known as USR PLUS.
A consultative referendum took place in Romania on 26 May 2019, on the same day as the European Parliament elections, about whether to prohibit amnesties and pardons for corruption offences, as well as whether to prohibit the Government from passing emergency ordinances concerning the judiciary and to extend the right to appeal against them to the Constitutional Court. Both proposals were approved by wide margins.
The Romanian component of the 2024 European Parliament election will be held on 9 June 2024. This will be the fifth European Parliament election to be held in Romania.
Nicolae Ionel Ciucă is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces, who is currently serving as the President of the Senate of Romania. Ideologically a conservative, he served as Prime Minister of Romania between 25 November 2021 and 12 June 2023 after receiving widespread parliamentary support on behalf of his own party, the National Liberal Party (PNL) along with the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ). Additionally, since 10 April 2022, he has also been serving as the president of the National Liberal Party (PNL). On 12 June 2023, he resigned as Prime Minister, being temporarily replaced by Cătălin Predoiu.
The Cîțu Cabinet was the 131st government of Romania, led by the national liberal (PNL) Prime Minister Florin Cîțu. It was removed from office after a motion of no confidence passed by the Parliament with a record of 281 votes, the largest number of votes on a motion of no confidence since the Romanian Revolution.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Romania on or before 21 March 2025, three months after the term of the incumbent legislature of the Romanian Parliament expires. However, the elections are most probably scheduled to be held during late 2024.
A political crisis began on 1 September 2021 in Romania, engulfing both major coalition partners of the Cîțu Cabinet, namely the conservative-liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the progressive-liberal Save Romania Union (USR). The crisis also involved former prime minister Ludovic Orban (PNL), who was set to face Prime Minister Florin Cîțu (PNL) in a leadership election during the party congress on 25 September, with the latter eventually replacing the former. Orban would eventually resign from his position as President of the Chamber of Deputies, with him and his supporters subsequently splitting from the PNL, in order to form the Force of the Right (FD).
Local elections are most probably set to be held in Romania in September 2024. They will be the eighth post-1989 local elections in the country. The previous Romanian local elections in 2020 were won by the National Liberal Party (PNL), even though the Social Democratic Party (PSD) came in with significantly more County Council (CJ) presidents and mayors than the national liberals.
The National Coalition for Romania is a big tent grand coalition in Romania, which includes the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL). In addition, this grand coalition supports the incumbent Romanian President Klaus Iohannis as well. The CNR also included the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) until its withdrawal from the coalition in June 2023.