Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 1 December 2024.[2][3] No party won a majority in the election, which saw the incumbent National Coalition for Romania, led by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), lose their majority in both chambers of parliament alongside significant gains by far-right parties such as the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), S.O.S. Romania, and the Party of Young People (POT). Following the elections, a pro-European grand coalition government was formed between the PSD, the PNL, and the UDMR, with the support of the national minorities. On 23 December, Ciolacu’s second cabinet was inaugurated by a slim margin, with 240 votes out of 465 in favour.
In September 2021, a major rift within the coalition led to the onset of the 2021 Romanian political crisis. Prime Minister Cîțu, with the backing of President Klaus Iohannis, sacked Justice minister Stelian Ion.[5][6] All the other USR ministers withdrew from the government by 7 September 2021,[7] which left the Cîțu Cabinet in the minority. It subsequently fell in November 2021 in an unparalleled motion of no confidence (the highest number of votes against a government in the political history of post-1989 Romania).
The political crisis ended with the formation of a grand coalition. As a result, the Ciucă Cabinet, backed by the National Coalition for Romania (CNR) comprising the PNL, PSD and the UDMR, was formed and remained in power until June 2023, when the latter of the three parties withdrew from the majority. On 15 June 2023, as part of the rotation government deal, the National Liberals made way for the Social Democratic-led Ciolacu Cabinet.
Foreshadowing the elections in December, the 2024 European Parliament and local elections took place on 9 June. The two governing parties formed an electoral alliance in the European Parliament election, as well as in some constituencies in the local elections. The results were seen as a victory for the CNR,[8] although the PNL suffered many losses to their coalition partners in races where they ran separately.[9] The newly formed United Right Alliance registered significant losses, with the People's Movement Party losing 88% of its mayors and the Save Romania Union losing key races in Brașov, as well as Bucharest, particularly Sectors1 and 2, where the mayoral candidates who lost their seats claimed that electoral fraud took place.[10] The USR's poor performance led to the resignation of Cătălin Drulă as party president and his replacement by Câmpulung mayor Elena Lasconi.[11]
The election is taking place amid political uncertainty caused by the results of the first round of the 2024 Romanian presidential election on 24 November, during which independent candidate Călin Georgescu and the USR's Elena Lasconi advanced to the runoff scheduled on 8 December at the expense of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the PSD and Nicolae Ciucă of the PNL.[12] On 6 December, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the first round of the election, as it came out that Georgescu received around €1,000,000 in illegal funding.[13][14] Alleged Russian state interference in the election was widely reported.[15][16][17][18]
Timeline
Date of the election
Both parliamentary and presidential terms were scheduled to end in late 2024. After consulting the various parliamentary groups, the Ciolacu Government announced that the parliamentary elections would take place on 1 December, with the presidential elections taking place around the same time (first round on 24 November, second round on 8 December),[19] making 2024 the first time for such an electoral concatenation in Romania since the 2004 general election.[20]
The election date also coincides with Great Union Day, the Romanian national holiday.[19]
Both the 331 members of the Chamber of Deputies as well as the 136 members of the Senate are elected in 43 multi-member constituencies based on Romania's 41 counties, the Municipality of Bucharest, as well as the Romanian diaspora using party-list proportional representation. Law no. 208/2015 outlines that each constituency is to be awarded one deputy every 73,000 people and one senator every 168,000 people in accordance with the population data collected on 1 January of the previous year by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Constituencies cannot have less than 4 deputies and 2 senators.[21]
Parties must pass a threshold of 5% of the national vote or at least 20% of the vote in four constituencies. Electoral alliances must pass a higher threshold, namely 8% for those with two member-parties, 9% for three and 10% for alliances of more. Further seats (currently 18) can be added in the Chamber of Deputies for ethnic minority groups that compete in the elections and pass a lower threshold (5% of the votes needed to win a seat in the lower chamber, calculated by dividing the number of votes of parties, alliances and independent candidates that passed the threshold by the amount of seats that they won).[22]
On 3 October 2021, former PNL Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, who had just been defeated for the leadership of the PNL by Florin Cîțu at the 2021 PNL party congress, stated that he is willing "to create a new political construction which would be ready to continue PNL's legacy".[26][27] In this regard, at that time it was thought that he could be following Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, another former national liberal Prime Minister who subsequently left the PNL in order to establish his own political party, more specifically the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR), subsequently known as the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) after its merger with the Conservative Party (PC), a now defunct political party which was eventually absorbed by the PNL during late March 2022.[28]
In addition, before further concrete steps on behalf of Orban, various commentators stated that Orban's faction could part ways with the main PNL should he not be designated PM after Cîțu's dismissal by the Parliament (which also occurred in the meantime). Subsequently, after PNL started negotiations with the PSD, more and more MPs resigned from the PNL and joined Orban's faction in the Parliament. Orban's new party was officially registered in December 2021 and is called "Force of the Right" (or FD for short).[29]
Additionally, in November 2021 the S.O.S. Romania party was founded by Maricel Viziteu, Adeluța and Gabriel Gib. However, it became later known on the Romanian political scene in May 2022, after senator Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, elected on the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) list, joined the party, and eventually became its leader.[31]
Former independent/technocratic Prime Minister and PLUS/USR PLUS/USR member (as well as former USR president) Dacian Cioloș officially quit the USR on 31 May 2022 to form a brand new party called REPER.[36] Several MEPs (more specifically 4) who have been previously elected on the lists of the 2020 USR PLUS Alliance at the 2019 European Parliament election in Romania have sided with Dacian Cioloș for his newly established political project, but still remain affiliated with the Renew group in the European Parliament. REPER can thus be considered (and is, in actuality) a splinter of USR.
The Green Party (PV) was also relaunched[39] under the new name of the Green Party (The Greens) – (Romanian: Partidul Verde – Verzii)). The party is currently led by two co-presidents, more specifically Marius Lazăr and Lavinia Cosma (former USR member between 2016 and 2019). The party first appeared in the polls in the beginning of 2023.[40]
In late September 2023, PNL vice-president and deputy Ben Oni Ardelean resigned from the party and announced that he is initiating a new political project.[41] Consequently, he recently launched an allegedly conservative political party called Hope's Movement (Romanian: Mișcarea Speranței) for the disillusioned electorate in Romania.[42]
Civil society activists announced at the end of November the launch of the Party for Nature, People and Animals (Romanian: Partidul pentru Natură, Oameni și Animale – NOA). The party is temporarily led by Lucian Rad, former county councilor in Brașov.[43]
On September 2, 2024, a group of 10 MP joined a new party called DREPT Party. The party will be led by former independent MEP Vlad Gheorghe.
The centrist Romania in Action Party, formed by the supporters of the independent candidate for president Mircea Geoană, managed to collect over 160,000 signatures and will have candidates in all counties as well as in the diaspora.[45]
New political alliances
In May 2022, the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) announced that it will prepare a new political alliance with the Alliance for the Homeland (ApP, formerly known under the acronym PAINE)[46] for the forthcoming Romanian parliamentary elections scheduled to take place in late 2024. The two parties will allegedly form a so-called "sovereignist" block which will oppose the National Coalition for Romania (CNR).[47] In late August 2022 however, Liviu Dragnea, strongly associated in the past with the party at an unofficial level, had decided to indefinitely distance himself from the ApP.[48]
In June 2023, incumbent USR leader Cătălin Drulă stated that the Save Romania Union (USR) wants to form a right-wing pole able to win the 2024 elections.[49] The alleged right-wing pole is envisaged to form around the USR and become the winner of all the elections scheduled in 2024 in Romania, according to the incumbent USR leader. In these regards, discussions have already been carried out between USR and the People's Movement Party (PMP).[50] The right-wing alliance proposed by the USR is presented as an alternative to the current ruling CNR coalition formed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL). The respective right-wing or centre-right alliance/electoral block might also include the Force of the Right (FD). It was later on reported in October 2023 by a USR member that the Force of the Right (FD) will be included in the respective alliance/electoral block at national level as well as the fact that he does not exclude punctual future collaborations on several political measures with the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ).[51]
The following party-lists will be on the ballot in December:[67] Note that not all the parties listed below have submitted lists of candidates in all the counties. Also, the independent candidates can run only in one county.
The incumbent National Coalition for Romania (PSD and PNL) lost their majority in both chambers in the election, with far-right parties (AUR, SOS RO, and POT) making substantial gains at their expense.[69]
This agreement was created so that in the case of Călin Georgescu being elected, there would be a firmly pro-EU government to hold him to account. The coalition members endorsed the pro-EU candidate, Elena Lasconi, in the second round, who was supposed to face Georgescu on 8 December before the annulment. This was also an attempt to block the far-right from forming a minority government including AUR, S.O.S. Romania, and POT.[70] Following the annulment of the presidential election by the Constitutional Court, the new government formed after the parliamentary election is expected to set new dates for a presidential vote.[72]
On 10 December, a coalition government was proposed between the PSD, PNL, USR, and UDMR, alongside national minority parties.[73] However, the PSD threatened to withdraw from the coalition negotiations on 19 December, with Marcel Ciolacu stating that the PSD would vote for a right-wing government in Parliament.[74]
Ultimately, after leaders of the parties met with President Iohannis on 22 December, a coalition agreement was reached between PSD, PNL and UDMR, with incumbent prime-minister Marcel Ciolacu staying on for the new government. While this coalition has a majority in the Senate, the national minorities will need to provide confidence and supply in order to reach a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. As per the agreement, PSD holds eight ministries, PNL six, and UDMR two. Ciolacu’s second cabinet was installed on 23 December.[75]
Notes
↑ 2 of the 136 seats in the Senate were unassigned, due to no candidates running in the election from POT in Giurgiu and Ialomita counties
The National Liberal Party is a Christian democratic and socially 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 People's Movement Party is an extra-parliamentary national-conservative and social conservative political party in Romania.
The Save Romania Union is a liberal political party in Romania that sits on the centre to centre-right of the political spectrum. It is currently the third largest party in the Parliament of Romania with 41 deputies and 20 senators, and fifth at the 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.
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.
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.
The 2024 European Parliament election in Romania was held on 9 June 2024. This was the fifth European Parliament election to be held in Romania since the country's accession to the European Union in 2007 and the first since Brexit.
USR PLUS was a Romanian progressive, liberal, and centrist political alliance active between 2019 and 2021. Established on 2 February 2019 solely as an electoral alliance between the political parties Save Romania Union (USR) and the Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) it was initially called 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance. The alliance was formed to participate together in the May 2019 European Parliament election in Romania.
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians is a right-wing populist and nationalist political party active in Romania and Moldova. It was founded on 19 September 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local and legislative elections. The party president is George Simion. The party ran in the local elections, not obtaining many votes and only winning in three towns. However, in the legislative elections, the AUR won 9% of the votes in all of Romania and its diaspora, thus becoming the fourth-largest party in the country at the central level, which surprised observers.
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.
Presidential elections were held in Romania on 24 November 2024. A second round was due to be held on 8 December 2024 as no candidate achieved an absolute majority in the first round. However, on 6 December 2024 the Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round, alleging that a Russian influence operation had impacted the vote. This was the ninth presidential election held in post-revolution Romania. The incumbent Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019, must vacate the office at the end of his term, as the Romanian Constitution allows a president to be re-elected only once.
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).
The Alliance for the Homeland was a nationalist political party in Romania.
Local elections were held in Romania on 9 June 2024. They were 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 Presidents and mayors than the National Liberals.
Force of the Right, sometimes translated as Right's Force or Right Force, is a liberal-conservative political party in Romania founded in December 2021 by Ludovic Orban, former National Liberal Party (PNL) president and former Prime Minister of Romania between 2019 and 2020, in opposition to the current leadership of the PNL which is currently officially led by Nicolae Ciucă and unofficially by Klaus Iohannis.
The Ciucă Cabinet was the 132nd government of Romania led by former Romanian Land Forces army general Nicolae Ciucă from 25 November 2021 to 12 June 2023.
The National Coalition for Romania, initially referred to as the Coalition for Resilience, Development and Prosperity, 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 presidency of Klaus Iohannis. The CNR also included the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) until its withdrawal from the coalition in June 2023.
The 2020–2024 legislature of the Romanian Parliament is the current legislature of the Parliament of Romania, elected on 6 December 2020. In the said election, no party won an outright majority, but the Social Democratic Party (PSD) remained the largest political force in the parliament, in opposition however. The National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union (USR), and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) formed a coalition government. The USR ran within a political alliance it established with a smaller party, more specifically the Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS), which was eventually absorbed by the former. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) entered parliament starting this legislature with an unexpected high score, gaining more popularity ever since.
United Right Alliance was a centre-right electoral alliance that was formed to compete in the 2024 Romanian parliamentary election. It opposed the incumbent National Coalition for Romania (CNR) government.
The AUR Alliance is a Romanian right-wing nationalist political alliance, consisting of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and other smaller parties. The alliance was founded in January 2023, and aims to participate in the 2024 Romanian elections.
The Justice and Respect in Europe for AllParty, often shortened to DREPT, is a Romanian parliamentary political party that ideologically follows Romanian nationalism and an anti-corruption discourse.
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