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.
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 served as 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.
The Székely Land (Szeklerland) is a historic and ethnographic region in Eastern Transylvania,in the center of Romania. The primary goal for the Hungarian political organisations in Romania is to achieve Székely autonomy. The Szeklers make up about half of the Hungarians in Romania and live in a compact ethnic bloc. According to official data from Romania's 2011 census,609,033 persons in Mureș,Harghita,and Covasna counties consider themselves Hungarian. The Székelys (Szeklers),a Hungarian sub-group,are mainly concentrated in these three counties.
Victor Viorel Ponta is a Romanian jurist and politician,who served as Prime Minister of Romania between his appointment by President Traian Băsescu in May 2012 and his resignation in November 2015. A former member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its leader from 2010 to 2015,he was also joint leader (2012–2014) of the then-governing Social Liberal Union (USL),an alliance with the National Liberal Party (PNL). Ponta was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Gorj County from 2004 to 2020. In the Emil Boc cabinet,he was Minister-Delegate for Relations with Parliament from 2008 to 2009.
Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2014. They were the seventh presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. In the first round of the elections on 2 November,the top two of the fourteen candidates qualified in a run-off on 16 November. These candidates were Victor Ponta,former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who won around 40% of the vote in the first round,and Klaus Iohannis,then mayor of Sibiu and leader of the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL),who won around 30% in the first round respectively. Following large protests on how Ponta's government organized the elections in the diaspora,Klaus Iohannis staged a surprising come-back and won the run-off with 54.5%,or more than a million votes than his contender.
The Fourth Ponta Cabinet was the government of Romania from 17 December 2014 to 17 November 2015. The Cabinet was supported by the Social Democratic Party (PSD),the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE),the alliance forged by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu's Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) and Daniel Constantin's Conservative Party (PC). Fourteen of the ministerial portfolios were held by PSD members,three by ALDE,two by UNPR and two by independent members.
During the first days of June 2015,the Government of Romania was rocked by criminal investigation against Prime Minister Victor Ponta for 19 acts of corruption between 2007 and 2008,when he was lawyer. Moreover,Victor Ponta is also investigated for conflict of interest during his premiership,when he propelled Dan Șova,political ally and friend,in government positions. His resignation was demanded by President Klaus Iohannis and several figures in opposition. Victor Ponta denied the allegations and refused to resign,plunging the country into the second political crisis in just three years.
Sorin Mihai Grindeanu is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania from January to June 2017 when he was removed by a motion of no confidence adopted by the Parliament. He served as ad interim President of the Chamber of Deputies in November 2021. He currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister of Romania since 25 November 2021 as a part of the CiucăCabinet,along with Hunor Kelemen.
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.
There were numerous protests against the Romanian Government between 2017 and 2019. In January 2017,days after the government of the Grindeanu Cabinet was sworn into office in Romania,protests took place throughout the country against ordinance bills that were proposed by the Romanian Ministry of Justice regarding the pardoning of certain committed crimes,and the amendment of the Penal Code of Romania. At the heart of these protests is the community Corruption Kills,founded by Florin Bădiță,who alongside other civic groups organized what proved to be the largest protests since 1989,thus realizing the "Revolution of our generation".
The Tudose Cabinet was the 127th Government of Romania. It was led by Mihai Tudose,who assumed office as Prime Minister of Romania on 29 June 2017. The cabinet had 27 mandates,and 16 of the officeholders were also part of the Grindeanu Cabinet,which was previously dismissed by the Parliament a week earlier for inefficiency.
The DăncilăCabinet was the 128th Government of Romania. It was led by Viorica Dăncilă,who assumed office as Prime Minister of Romania along with her cabinet on 29 January 2018.
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.
Nicolae Ionel Ciucă is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces who is 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). 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.
Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Romania on 8 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).
The CiucăCabinet was the 132nd government of Romania led by former Romanian Land Forces army general Nicolae Ciucăfrom 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.
Lucian N. Romașcanu is a Romanian politician serving as Minister of Culture from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD),he has been Senator for Buzău since 2016. He previously served as Culture Minister from 2017 to 2018.
Harry Ilan Laufer is a Romanian politician who served as Minister for business,trade and entrepreneurship between 29 June 2017 and 29 January 2018 in the Tudose Cabinet.
