Legislative 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. While the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(PSD) remained the largest political party in the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, its popular vote share dropped considerably, more specifically by a third. Following the elections, a

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and ...

coalition government was formed by the National Liberal Party (PNL),

USR PLUS 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 ...

, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians (UDMR/RMDSZ) (i.e. the former

Cîțu Cabinet 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 n ...

) with Florin Cîțu as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

. The final voter turnout was approximately 32%, the lowest since the end of the Communist era in Romania, partially due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Electoral system

The 330 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by several methods: 308 are elected from 42 multi-member constituencies based on

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

and

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

, using proportional representation, four are elected using proportional representation from a constituency representing Romanians living abroad. Parties must pass a threshold of 5% of the national vote or at least 20% of the vote in four constituencies. Further seats (currently 18) can be added for ethnic minority groups that compete in the elections and pass a special (lower) threshold (calculated as 10% of the votes needed to obtain one of the regular 312 seats). The 136 members of the Senate are also elected using

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...

, but from 43 constituencies based on the 41 counties (a total of 121 seats), Bucharest (13 seats), and one for Romanians living overseas (two seats).Electoral system
IPU

Government

The previous election saw the

(PSD) led by

Liviu Dragnea Liviu Nicolae Dragnea (; born 28 October 1962) is a Romanian engineer and former politician. Starting his career in the Democratic Party (PD), he joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD), eventually becoming its leader. After holding several po ...

emerge as the largest political party in the parliament, although they fell short of an absolute majority. Nevertheless, the PSD eventually established a coalition agreement with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), forming the Grindeanu Cabinet in January 2017. However, the new government did not last long and was replaced by the Tudose Cabinet in June 2017, which was also short-lived. Ultimately, the Dăncilă Cabinet took office in January 2018. It was dismissed by a motion of no confidence in October 2019, and replaced by a National Liberal Party (PNL) minority government under

Ludovic Orban Ludovic Orban (; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who served as 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 ...

in November 2019. The Orban Cabinet was dismissed by a motion of no confidence on the 5 February 2020, but took office again on 14 March 2020.

Period before the political campaign

The

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

decided parliamentary elections would be held on 6 December 2020. On 30 September 2020, the president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE),

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 December 2004 to 22 December 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the vice-pre ...

, proposed on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

that the elections be postponed to March 2021. On 2 October 2020, former

Save Romania Union The Save Romania Union ( ro, Uniunea Salvați România, USR) is a liberal political party active in Romania and Moldova, currently the third largest party in the Parliament with 43 deputies and 22 senators, and fifth at national level (followin ...

(USR) deputy Adrian Dohotaru submitted a bill to the Senate, proposing the parliamentary elections be held on 14 March 2021, which received support from the

(PSD). On 7 October 2020, the first vice-president of the PSD,

Sorin Grindeanu Sorin Mihai Grindeanu (; born 5 December 1973) 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 Presid ...

, claimed that the government's plan would lead to a surge in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

cases. On 8 October,

and

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) 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 ...

announced in a press conference that their parties will run in the elections on a shared list under a single name: Social-Liberal PRO Romania ( ro, PRO România Social-Liberal). PSD president

Marcel Ciolacu Ion-Marcel Ciolacu (born 28 November 1967) is a Romanian politician who currently serves as the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). A previously little known politician, Ciolacu came into national prominence when he was propped up by a f ...

announced on 15 October that the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

's representative in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

, Alexandru Rafila, was one of the party's candidates for the parliamentary elections. He will be top of the list of deputies for the Bucharest circumscription, while

Gabriela Firea Gabriela Firea (born Gabriela Vrânceanu, 13 July 1972) is a Romanian journalist and politician who served as mayor of Bucharest, the capital of Romania, between 2016 and 2020. At the 2016 Romanian local elections, June 2016 local election, Fir ...

will lead the list of senators.

Parties

The following table presents the composition of the Parliament of Romania during the 2016–2020 legislative term. }) , align=center, PSD , 2001 ,

Social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

Social conservatism

Left-wing nationalism Left-wing nationalism or leftist nationalism, also known as social nationalism, is a form of nationalism based upon national self-determination, popular sovereignty, national self-interest, and left-wing political positions such as social equal ...

Soft Euroscepticism Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek reform ...

,
45.68% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=, , National Liberal Party
( ro, Partidul Național Liberal) , align=center, PNL , 1990
(1875) ,

,
Liberal conservatism

Pro-Europeanism Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

, 20.04% D
20.42% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=, ,

( ro, Uniunea Salvați România) , align=center, USR , 2015 ,

Dan Barna Dan Barna (born 10 July 1975) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. He served as the president of the Save Romania Union (USR), and as co-president of USR-PLUS until 1 October 2021. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 2016. Bi ...

Anti-corruption Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive meas ...

Liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

Economic liberalism Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic liberali ...

, 8.87% D
8.92% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=, ,

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; hu, Romániai Magyar Demokrata Szövetség, RMDSZ; ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România, UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian m ...

( ;
ro, Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România) , align=center, UDMR
RMDSZ , 1989 ,

Hunor Kelemen Hunor Kelemen (born 18 October 1967) is a Romanian politician and Hungarian language writer. The current president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), he has been a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies since 2000, a ...

, Hungarian minority interests
Liberal conservatism
Christian democracy , 6.19% D
6.24% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=, ,

People's Movement Party The People's Movement Party ( ro, Partidul Mișcarea Populară, PMP) is a minor extra-parliamentary nominally centre-right Christian democratic, national-conservative political party in Romania. History The PMP was created as a political founda ...

( ro, Partidul Mișcarea Populară) , align=center, PMP , 2014 , Eugen Tomac , Liberal conservatism
Christian democracy

, 5.35% D
5.65% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=, , Social-Liberal PRO Romania
( ro, PRO România Social-Liberal) , align=center, PRO , 2018 ,

Social liberalism Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

, colspan=2, ''Did not exist'' ,
, , , rowspan=2, , - , bgcolor=, , Alliance of Liberals and Democrats
( ro, Alianța Liberalilor și Democraților) , align=center, ALDE , 2015 ,

Conservative liberalism Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...

, 5.62% C
6.01% S ,
, ''Subsequently merged with PRO Romania in 2020'' , , , - , bgcolor=, ,

Humanist Power Party The Social Liberal Humanist Party ( ro, Partidul Umanist Social Liberal, PUSL), formerly Humanist Power Party (Social-Liberal) ( ro, Partidul Puterii Umaniste (social-liberal), PPU-SL) is a centrist to centre-left political party in Romania. It ...

( ro, Partidul Puterii Umaniste) , align=center, PPU-SL , 2015 , Daniel Ionașcu ,

Humanism Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and Agency (philosophy), agency of Human, human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical in ...

, 0.04% D
0.04% S ,
,
, , , , - , bgcolor=black, , colspan=2, Ethnic minority parties , – , – , – , 1.34% D
0.01% S ,
,
, colspan=2 , , - , bgcolor=, , colspan=2, Non-inscrits , – , – , – , colspan=2, – ,
, , , , -

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

The chart below shows opinion polls conducted for the next Romanian legislative election. The trend lines represent

local regression Local regression or local polynomial regression, also known as moving regression, is a generalization of the moving average and polynomial regression. Its most common methods, initially developed for scatterplot smoothing, are LOESS (locally e ...

s (LOESS).

Party vote

;

Incidents

An 80-year-old man from Teiu, Argeș fell into

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and poss ...

and died outside a polling station on election day. He was known to have heart problems. Two polling stations from Sector 3 of

had their voting suspended: for about an hour at polling station 551, after a member of the electoral bureau tested positive for COVID-19; and for two and a half hours at station 643, after the death of a voter.

Results

Participation was 33.30% and 5.9 million valid votes were cast. After counting all votes, but before the settlement of any appeals, PSD has won around 29.5% of the votes, PNL around 25.5%, USR PLUS around 15.5%, AUR around 9%, and UDMR around 6%. The high result of the quasi-unknown party AUR was considered a huge surprise, while PMP and PRO Romania both failed to get 5% of the votes required to win any seats.

Senate

Chamber of Deputies

File:Harta parlamentare SENAT 2020.png, Map highlighting the results for the Senate File:Harta parlamentare 2020.png, Map highlighting the results for the Chamber of Deputies

Aftermath

On 18 December, the National Liberal Party (PNL), the

, and the

(UDMR) announced that they had reached a coalition agreement, and proposed finance minister

Florin Cîțu Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting (law), acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Between September 2021 and A ...

as prime minister. The government would have two deputy prime ministers (one from USR PLUS and one from UDMR) and 18 ministries, with 9 allocated for the PNL, 6 for USR PLUS, and 3 for UDMR. The allocations are as follows (with newly created ministries ''italicized''): * PNL: Foreign Affairs Ministry, Defense Ministry, Finance Ministry, Interior Ministry, Education Ministry, Energy Ministry, Agriculture Ministry, Labor Ministry, and Culture Ministry * USR PLUS: Justice Ministry, Transport Ministry, Health Ministry, ''Ministry of Research'', Innovation and Digitization, and the Ministry of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism * UDMR: Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration, the Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests, and the Ministry of Youth and Sports Cîțu was officially appointed as Prime Minister-designate on 22 December by President Klaus Iohannis. On 23 December, the Cabinet was invested by the parliament and took oath of office on the same evening. The Romanian Electoral Authority stated that the campaign financing publicly subsidies amounted to a grand total of 166,850,315.50 Romanian Lei. The parties/candidates were required to achieve at least 3% of the vote to apply for a public subsidy of their campaign expenditures.

Notes

References

External links

Official page
of the 2020 Romanian legislative election {{Romanian elections

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

Parliamentary elections in Romania