Partidul Național Liberal

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Partidul Național Liberal
National Liberal Party Romania.png
OrbanLudovicRO.jpg
Party leader Ludovic Orban
founding 1875 (banned in 1938, re-admitted in 1944, dissolved in 1947/48), re-established in January 1990
Headquarters Bucharest
Youth organization National Liberal Youth
Alignment Liberalism National Liberalism Conservatism
Colours) yellow , blue
Parliament seats
82/329
Number of members 208,543 (as of October 2014)
International connections Christian Democratic International (CDI)
MEPs
10/33
European party European People's Party (EPP)
EP Group European People's Party (EPP)
Website PNL

The Partidul Național Liberal ( PNL ) (German National Liberal Party ) is a liberal - conservative party in Romania .

Together with the Christian Democrats ( PNȚ-CD ), the PNL represents the historical link between present-day Romania and the time before 1947. By merging with the Partidul Democrat-Liberal (PD-L) in 2014, the PNL became the leading party of the center-right Spectrum in Romania. At the same time she switched from the liberal party family to the Christian Democratic-Conservative European People's Party (EPP).

History 1875-1947

Ion C. Brătianu , first party leader of the PNL, 1875–91

In Romania, as in most European countries, the roots of political liberalism go back to the 1840s. The PNL's founding date is given as 1875. The first chairman was Ion C. Brătianu , who was also Romanian Prime Minister from 1876 to 1888. From 1892 to 1909 Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza was chairman of the PNL. During this time he was also head of government several times.

Ion IC Brătianu ("Ionel"), the son of the party founder, led the PNL from 1909 to 1927, making him the longest-serving party leader in the history of the National Liberals. He was also from 1909–11, 1914–18, 1918–19, 1922–26 and for several months in 1927 Prime Minister of Romania. Ionel's brothers Vintilă (Premier 1927-28) and Dinu Brătianu were party leaders in 1927-30 and 1934-47, respectively, but by 1930 the party had split. Vintilă Brătianu was first followed by Ion Duca as party leader. Thereupon Ionel's son Gheorge founded his own splinter party, which he called, with part of the right-wing nationalist-pro-fascist party wing of the so-called "young liberals"National Liberal Party Brătianu (Partidul Național Liberal - Brătianu) called and which was banned in 1938 when King Carol II established a one-party dictatorship. Another wing under the party's general secretary, Gheorghe Tătărescu (Premier 1934–37 and 1939–40), split off in 1938 and initially joined the only officially approved unity party, the "Front of National Revival" (Frontul Renaşterii Naționale) . Bebe Brătianu became the new General Secretary .

Election results 1919–1937

In the elections in Greater Romania since 1919, the Partidul Național Liberal was alternately successful and was able to provide government several times until 1940. In the election to the Chamber of Deputies , she achieved the following results:

choice Mandates (from)
1919 103 (568)
1920 7 (369)
1922 227 (387)
1926 16 (387)
1926 318 (387)
1928 13 (386)
1931 12 (387)
1932 14 + 28 (387)
1933 10 + 300 (387)
1937 16 + 152 (387)

In 1922 a German MP ( Peter Mutschler ) and in 1927 two MPs ( Michael Kausch and Konstantin Roduner ) and a senator ( Andreas Widmer ) were elected for the PNL.

Development 1943–1948

In 1943, the National Liberals , the Peasant Party , Social Democrats and Communists united to form the “National Democratic Bloc”. Together they supported the coup d'état of King Michael I in August 1944, through which the dictator Ion Antonescu, who was allied with Nazi Germanywas deposed and Romania left the Axis powers. Attempts in the immediate post-war period to bring about a new beginning together with Romania's Christian and Social Democrats failed because of the communist claim to power, but also because of the split of the National Liberals into two rival parties around Brătianu and Tătărescu. Tătărescu had meanwhile founded his own National Liberal Party as Partidul Național Liberal-Tătărescu, his supporters were expelled from the Brătianu. In contrast to Tătărescu, Brătianu did not join the communist-led coalition government of Petru Groza in 1945 , while Tătărescu and his party friends Dumitru Alimănişteanu and Petre Bejan became ministers (later with TătărescuAlexandru Alexandrini , Ion Vântu and Radu Roșculeț). In 1946, Mihail Romniceanu, a party friend of Brătianus, entered the government again, but in the elections in November 1946, the Brătianu party was defeated by the Tătărescu party and banned in 1947. In November 1947, however, the Tătărescu party was also ousted from government and formally dissolved in January 1948. A party founded by Petre Bejan in 1948 was admitted, but remained meaningless and was also dissolved at the end of 1948 (according to other information, 1950). Leading PNL members were persecuted, taken to Sighet prison, sentenced to forced labor (e.g. Danube Canal) or managed to flee into exile .

New establishment in the 1990s

After the end of communist rule, the PNL was re-established in 1990. In the first free elections in May 1990, the PNL's presidential candidate, Radu Câmpeanu, won 10.6% of the vote. In the simultaneous parliamentary election, the PNL even received only 6.4% and 29 of the 395 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In contrast, the "National Salvation Front" (FSN) , which emerged from the dissolved Communist Party , won a two-thirds majority.

As a counterpoint to the dominant FSN, the PNL formed the electoral alliance Convenția Democrată Română (CDR; "Romanian Democratic Convention") the following year with the other new-old party, the Christian Democratic PNȚ-CD . In 1992 the CDR was again defeated by the post-communists of President Ion Iliescu , who now appeared as the “Democratic National Salvation Front” , but grew to around 20%. In the 1996 elections, the CDR won: Emil Constantinescu (a Christian Democrat) became president and the CDR became the strongest force in parliament with 30.2%. Subsequently, from 1996 to 2000 she posed together with the Partidul Democrat (PD, reform-oriented post-communists) and the Hungarian PartyUDMR the government.

After a sobering process of disintegration in the mid-1990s (e.g. the Partidul Liberal was founded in 1993 by Dinu Patriciu ), the National Liberals succeeded after 2000 under the leadership of Valeriu Stoica (and later Theodor Stolojan ) through many mergers with former splits and other small parties significant consolidation. The PNL became a full member of the Liberal International (LI) in 1999 .

At the elections in 2000, the PNL left the CDR alliance with the Christian Democrats and ran alone. She only got around 7% in the parliamentary elections, her presidential candidate Theodor Stolojan received 11.8%. Then she was back in the opposition. With the disappearance of the Christian Democratic PNȚ CD in political insignificance, the PNL was the only remaining “historical” center-right party of importance. This state of affairs ended with the reorientation of the post-communist PD as a Christian Democratic and liberal-conservative center-right party around 2005.

Graphic about the development of liberal parties in Romania 1990–2005

Explanations (to the graphic on the right):

  • ACL = Alianța Civic Liberală (German: Civil-Liberal Alliance )
  • ApR = Alianța pentru România (German: Alliance for Romania )
  • ANL = Alianța Național Liberală (German: National-Liberal Alliance )
  • ALDE = Alianța Liberalilor şi Democraților (German: Alliance of Liberals and Democrats )
  • NPL = Noul Partid Liberal (German: New Liberal Party )
  • PAC = Partidul Alianței Civice (German: Party of the Citizens' Alliance )
  • PAR = Partidul Alternativa României (German: Romania's Alternative Party )
  • PC = Partidul Conservator (German: Conservative Party )
  • Partidul Liberal 1993 = Partidul Liberal 1993 (German: Liberal Party 1993 )
  • PD-L = Partidul Democrat Liberal (German: Democratic Liberal Party )
  • PLD = Partidul Liberal Democrat (German: Liberal Democratic Party )
  • PNL = Partidul Național Liberal (German: National Liberal Party )
  • PNL-AT = Partidul Național Liberal - Aripa Tânără (German: National Liberal Party - Young Wing )
  • PNL-CD = Partidul Național Liberal - Convenția Democrată (German: National Liberal Party - Democratic Convention )
  • PNL (C) = Partidul Național Liberal (Câmpeanu) (German: National Liberal Party (Câmpeanu) )
  • PSL = Partidul Socialist Liberal (German: Socialist-Liberal Party )
  • PUR = Partidul Umanist din România (German: Humanist Party of Romania )
  • PUR-SL = Partidul Umanist din România - Social Liberal (German: Humanist Party of Romania - Social Liberal )
  • UFD = Uniunea Forțelor de Dreapta (German: Union of Right Forces )

Allianz DA and government 2004–2008

After four years of government of the post-communist PSD under Adrian Năstase , the PNL entered into an alliance with the PD in 2004 (which also consisted of former communists, but was more reform-oriented than the PSD). This was called the "Alliance for Justice and Truth" ( Alianța Dreptate și Adevăr , short DA). The PD, which at that time still belonged to the social democratic party family, was sharply criticized by the Socialist International for its alliance with the right-of-center PNL. This had led to speculation that the two parties might merge and continue as a liberal movement. Also about rapprochement with the European People's Party(EPP, Christian Democrats) there was a lot of speculation. Many commentators saw the continued existence of the alliance after the replacement of Theodor Stolojan as chairman of the PNL by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu in the autumn of 2004, because the two party leaders (Stolojan and Traian Băsescu) were the guarantors of the alliance's stability.

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu (2005)

However, the alliance continued and the candidate of DA Traian Băsescu (PD) was elected president in the second ballot. In parliament, the alliance was only the second strongest force with 31.3% after the “National Union” made up of PSD and PUR . After the election, however, the PUR changed sides and together with the party of the Hungarian ethnic group UDMR gave the DA a majority. The national liberal Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu became prime minister and remained so until 2008.

After the Conservative Party (PC) - formerly the "Humanist Party of Romania" - wanted to join the ranks of the EPP in autumn 2005 , the EU parliamentary observers of the PC and those of the PNL joined the liberal EU parliamentarians ( ALDE ) Afterwards, a merger of the PC with the PNL was discussed, but this did not materialize.

After conflicts over a possible merger of the PNL with the PD, over the exit from the international liberal umbrella organizations and a possible affiliation to the European People's Party, the ex-party chairmen Valeriu Stoica and Theodor Stolojan were expelled from the liberal party in 2006 because of behavior that was harmful to the party. Together with like-minded ex-PNL members, the two politicians founded the “Liberal Democratic Party” ( Partidul Liberal Democrat - PLD ) in December 2006 .

In 2007 the dissolution of the Democratic Alliance, which had been on the horizon for a long time, took place; the PD and the PLD went into opposition and merged at the end of 2007 to form the Partidul Democrat Liberal (PD-L). The PNL then led a minority government together with the Hungarian party UDMR, which together held only a quarter of the parliamentary seats, but was tacitly tolerated by the Social Democrats (PSD).

In the opposition 2008–12

In the parliamentary elections in 2008 , the PNL was able to increase the number of its MPs slightly; However, since the PD-L and the PSD agreed to form a coalition government, the PNL went into opposition. Since March 20, 2009, Crin Antonescu held the office of party leader. He also ran as a PNL candidate for the 2009 presidential election and came third with 20%. In the runoff election, the PNL recommended the election of Mircea Geoanăs from the PSD, but the incumbent Băsescu prevailed.

Social-Liberal Union 2012–14

Crin Antonescu (2012)

In April 2012, the PNL took part in the introduction of a vote of no confidence in the independent Prime Minister Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu . After his overthrow, she formed a “Social-Liberal Union” ( USL ) together with the PSD and PC, with PSD chairman Victor Ponta as the new head of government. In the parliamentary elections on December 9, 2012 ( both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate were elected ), the USL received absolute majorities in both chambers.

As a result of the shift in power in the Romanian parliament, several offices were filled; numerous laws were decreed by the government of Ponta in an emergency . The PNL chairman Crin Antonescu was initially elected as the new President of the Romanian Senate on July 6, 2012, after the suspension of President Traian Băsescu, Antonescu also became the country's interim president. However, the impeachment proceedings against Băsescu failed, so that he took over the official business again.

In February 2014 the “Social Liberal Union” broke up after a week-long dispute over a cabinet reshuffle. Among other things, Prime Minister Victor Ponta refused to appoint the mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Johannis, as Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister, as the PNL had suggested. Prime Minister Victor Ponta formed a new government on March 5th without the PNL participating. The party has been in opposition again since then.

Presidential election 2014 and merger with PD-L

Klaus Johannis 2015

After the European elections in May 2014 , the PNL left the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament - surprisingly for many observers - and joined the Christian Democratic EPP group . The reason given was the wish to play a more important role at European level (the EPP was the strongest group in the European Parliament at the time and was the head of government in many member states). In September 2014, the European ALDE party joined the EPP. Part of the PNL, under the leadership of the former party leader Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, did not want to go along with this change in the European party family and founded the Partidul Liberal Reformer(PLR), from which a year later the Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților emerged through the merger with the Partidul Conservator (PC) (whose abbreviation is not by chance ALDE).

After the 2014 European elections , Antonescu resigned as chairman and Klaus Johannis was elected as his successor . In November 2014 Johannis was elected President of Romania . He prevailed in the runoff election with 54.4% against the Social Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta. Before assuming the presidency, Johannis resigned from the party leadership seat. He was followed by Alina Gorghiu .

On November 17, 2014, the PDL merged with the PNL, the latter keeping its name. PDL chairman Vasile Blaga then co -chaired the merged party alongside Gorghiu for a few months.

After the poor result of the PNL in the parliamentary elections in December 2016 , Alina Gorghiu resigned as party leader. Raluca Turcan initially took over the party chairmanship provisionally. On June 17, 2017, the former Transport Minister Ludovic Orban was elected as the new party leader.

Successful vote of no confidence and renewed government responsibility

At the end of 2019, the incumbent, PSD-led government collapsed and was voted out by a vote of no confidence. Thereupon the PNL chairman Orban was commissioned by the President Johannis to form a transitional government. Since then he has been running official business with a minority government until a new parliament is elected. This election will take place at the end of the current legislative period at the end of 2020. An attempt at early elections was blocked by the PSD and the Constitutional Court.

Election results since 1990

Election year % ( Senate ) Reg. / Opp. alliance
1990 7.1 percent partly government -
1992 20.2 percent opposition CDR (with PNȚ-CD etc.)
1996 30.7 percent government CDR (with PNȚ-CD etc.)
2000 7.5 percent opposition -
2004 32.0 percent government DA (with Partidul Democrat )
2008 18.7 percent opposition -
2012 60.1 percent partly government USL (with PSD and PC )
2016 20.4 percent partly government -

Eminent PNL politicians

literature

  • Mads Ole Balling: From Reval to Bucharest - Statistical-Biographical Handbook of the Parliamentarians of the German Minorities in East Central and Southeastern Europe 1919-1945, Volume 2, 2nd edition. Copenhagen 1991, ISBN 87-983829-5-0 , p. 578.

Web links

Commons : Partidul Național Liberal  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Precizare ACL privind numarul de membri. stiripesurse.ro, October 9, 2014, accessed November 22, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Der Standard : New government confirmed in office , May 7, 2012.
  3. ↑ Bieler Tagblatt : DESPRE CRIN ANTONESCU ( Memento from December 29, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , July 3, 2012.
  4. ↑ Aargauer Zeitung : Romania's head of state temporarily gives up official duties , July 10, 2012.
  5. ↑ Romanian Liberals seek EPP affiliation at euractiv.com, May 26, 2014.
  6. ↑ a b Florin Abraham: Romania since the Second World War. A Political, Social and Economic History. Bloomsbury, London / New York 2017, p. 125.
  7. ^ Romania before the election
  8. ↑ Alina Gorghiu a demisionat de la Sefia PNL într-o conferintă . In: Libertatea.ro . December 12, 2016 ( libertatea.ro [accessed August 13, 2017]).
  9. ↑ Keno Verseck, DER SPIEGEL: Romania - new interim government: country in permanent crisis mode - DER SPIEGEL - politics. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Florian Hassel: slowed down by the constitutional court. Retrieved April 10, 2020 .