Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților

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The Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților ( ALDE ; Alliance of Liberals and Democrats) is a liberal party in Romania . It was founded in 2015 and until July 2019 was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe at European level . From January 2017 to August 2019 she was involved in the government as a coalition partner of the PSD . The party chairman is Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu .

history

Forerunner and foundation

Party leader Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu

The ALDE was created in June 2015 through the merger of two predecessor parties : the Partidul Liberal Reformator (PLR; Liberal Reform Party) and the socially conservative Partidul Conservator (PC).

The PLR, in turn, had only been founded a year earlier, in July 2014, as a spin-off from the Partidul Național Liberal (PNL). Previously, the PNL under the leadership of Crin Antonescu had terminated the Uniunea Social Liberală (USL; Social-Liberal Union) called coalition with PSD and PC and instead entered into an alliance with the Partidul Democrat-Liberal (PDL). This was accompanied by an abrupt turn away from the PNL by the liberal European party ALDE and its group in the European Parliament and accession to the Christian Democratic European People's Party (EPP), which was justified with the wish to play a greater role at European level. The party wing led by former PNL chairman Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, who wanted to remain in the liberal party alliance, then left the PNL and founded the PLR.

The PC, on the other hand, had existed since 1991 (initially under the name of the Romanian Humanist Party, PUR) and was also part of the Social-Liberal Union from 2011 to 2014.

In the presidential election in November 2014 , the PLR ​​had nominated Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, who supported PC Victor Ponta from the PSD, but both were subject to Klaus Johannis from the PNL.

Coalition with the PSD (2016-19)

In December 2016, ALDE ran for the first time since the merger for parliamentary elections . She received 5.6% of the vote, 20 of the 329 seats in the House of Representatives and 9 of the 136 senatorial seats. This made it the fifth strongest force in parliament. After the election, she formed a coalition with the PSD under Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu . In his cabinet she was represented by four ministers, including Teodor Meleşcanu as foreign minister.

A group of members, including former co-chair Daniel Constantin and former education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu , left the party in May 2017. They then founded the PRO România party together with former Prime Minister Victor Ponta , who had been expelled from the PSD . ALDE also continued the governing coalition with the PSD under Prime Ministers Mihai Tudose and Viorica Dăncilă . In July 2018, the PSD and ALDE voted in favor of a softening of criminal law, which limits the criminal liability of abuse of office and corruption.

The Austrian NEOS and the chairman of the ALDE group in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt , urged the Romanian ALDE to be excluded from the European party of the same name. They justified this with the corruption cases of the PSD-ALDE government and their changes in criminal law. In April 2019, the MEPs of the Romanian ALDE were expelled from the ALDE group in the European Parliament.

In the European elections in May 2019 , the ALDE received only 4.1% of the vote and consequently no longer a seat in the European Parliament; while the likewise liberal but opposition alliance USR - PLUS received 22.4% of the vote and eight seats. The USR was interested in joining the European ALDE party; but refused to belong to the same association as the Romanian ALDE, which it considers corrupt. On May 30, 2019, the Romanian Liberal Democrats gave in to the pressure and left the European party.

In August 2019, the ALDE terminated the coalition with the PSD, thereby removing its majority from the government of Viorica Dăncilă. For the presidential election in November 2019 , ALDE and PRO România support the candidacy of Mircea Diaconus .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Florin Abraham: Romania since the Second World War. A Political, Social and Economic History. Bloomsbury, London / New York 2017, p. 125.
  2. ↑ Sorin Campeanu a demisionat din ALDE: Ma Alatur Noii constructii initate de Daniel Constantin. In: HotNews.ro , May 23, 2017.
  3. ^ Pro Romania political project, launched by Victor Ponta, Daniel Constantin, Sorin Cimpeanu as “an alternative to the current parties' offer”. In: Nine o'clock , September 4, 2017.
  4. ↑ Romania's parliament approves controversial mitigation of criminal law for corruption. In: Handelsblatt , June 4, 2018.
  5. ^ Corruption in Romania - Parliament decides to mitigate the criminal law. In: Spiegel Online , July 5, 2018.
  6. ^ Anca Alexe: Austrian liberal leader demands exclusion of Romania's ALDE party from the European Liberals and Democrats Alliance. In: Business Review , August 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ Guy Verhofstadt: "We expect ALDE group formally expel ALDE Romania from our movement, as soon as possible" Act Media, April 26, 2019.
  8. ↑ Ghinea: USR are discuții active cu partidul european ALDE. G4Media.ro, June 15, 2018
  9. ↑ ALDE România sa retras din ALDE Europa In: HotNews.ro , May 30, 2019
  10. ^ Romania's Liberal Democrats pull out of ALDE Europe. Romania-Insider.com, June 3, 2019.
  11. ↑ Romania - breaks Dancilas coalition. In: Tagesschau.de , August 26, 2019.

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