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.
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.
Ludovic Orban is a Romanian engineer and politician who was the prime minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between 2017 and 2021, which expelled him shortly after he lost a bid for another term as its leader. He was also minister of transport from April 2007 to December 2008 in the second Tăriceanu cabinet.
Nicușor Dan is a Romanian activist, mathematician, former member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania as well as founder and former leader of the Romanian political party Save Romania Union (USR). He is currently serving as the Mayor of Bucharest following the 2020 Romanian local elections as independent politician.
Controlled-access highways in Romania are dual carriageways, grade separated with controlled-access, designed for high speeds. There are two types of highways, motorways and expressways, with the main difference being that motorways have emergency lanes and slightly wider lanes. The maximum allowed speed limit for motorways is 130 km/h (81 mph), while for expressways the limit is 120 km/h (75 mph). There are no toll roads, but a road vignette is required.
Cristian Popescu Piedone is a Romanian politician who served as mayor of Bucharest's Sector 4 from 2008 until 4 November 2015, when he resigned following the Colectiv nightclub fire and the subsequent 2015 Romanian protests.
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.
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.
Ion-Marcel Ciolacu is a Romanian politician who currently serves as the Prime Minister of Romania. He is also the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). As a previously little-known politician outside of Buzău County, where he owns a pastry shop and a consulting firm, Ciolacu came into national prominence when he became the deputy prime minister in 2018 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. Allegedly, he was given this office in order to report Tudose's activities to Liviu Dragnea, who had been unable to become prime minister himself and was wary of Tudose becoming a power player in the party. Ciolacu soon broke with Dragnea and became an ally of Tudose against Dragnea's leadership. After Tudose's resignation, Ciolacu was marginalized within PSD but still retained the leadership of PSD Buzău. Ciolacu once again returned to prominence in 2019 after Liviu Dragnea had been convicted on abuse of office and incitement to intellectual forgery charges, having to serve a 3 years, 6 months sentence. With the Social Democrats still controlling a majority both in the Chamber and in the Senate, Ciolacu won the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies, with 172 votes for and 120 against, previously held by Dragnea himself.
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.
Events from the year 2021 in Romania.
The Social Liberal Humanist Party, formerly Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal) is a centrist to centre-left political party in Romania. It was founded in 2015 by members of the Conservative Party (PC) who did not want to merge with the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR), led by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Romania on 8 December 2024.
Presidential elections will be held in Romania on 15 September 2024, with a possible second round to be held on 29 September if no candidate receives over 50% of the vote. They will be the ninth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. As the Romanian Constitution allows a maximum of two presidential terms, incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019, is not eligible for re-election. His second term will normally end in December 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 set to be held in Romania in 9 June 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.
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.
