The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a
Christian democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
and
agrarian political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
. It claims to be the rightful successor of the
interwar
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...
''
National Peasants' Party
The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc, or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It w ...
'' (PNȚ), created from the merger of the
Romanian National Party
The Romanian National Party ( ro, Partidul Național Român, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the ...
(PNR) from the then
Austro-Hungarian-ruled Transylvania
Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...
and the
Peasants' Party (PȚ) from the
Romanian Old Kingdom
The Romanian Old Kingdom ( ro, Vechiul Regat or just ''Regat''; german: Regat or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia ...
.
PNȚCD was the largest and most important political party of the
Romanian Democratic Convention
The Romanian Democratic Convention ( ro, Convenţia Democrată Română or Convenția Democratică Română; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-Communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties ...
( ro, Convenția Democrată Română, CDR) during the 1990s and was led by
Corneliu Coposu
Corneliu (Cornel) Coposu () (20 May 1914 – 11 November 1995) was a Christian Democratic and liberal conservative Romanian politician, the founder of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Cre ...
and
Ion Diaconescu
Ion Diaconescu (; 25 August 1917 – 11 October 2011) was a Romanian anti-Communist activist and politician. He was imprisoned as a political prisoner for seventeen years from 1947 to 1964 during Romania's Communist era. Diaconescu later bec ...
, two former political prisoners during
Communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, but as the 2000s began it gradually feel out of grace amongst
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
Romanian voters and slowly became an inactive
microparty
Microparty, micro-party, or micro party is a term, sometimes pejorative, for a small political party that doesn't attract enough votes to be elected to a legislature in its own right. The term is most commonly used in Australia where the combinatio ...
. The party was subsequently excluded from the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
(EPP) in June 2017. Eventually, it joined the
European Christian Political Movement
The European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) is the only European political party explicitly working on promoting Christian values. The party unites national parties and individuals from across Europe who share policies influenced by Chris ...
(ECPM) in February 2020.
Given a tremendous disdain and resentment towards Pavelescu's leadership (the incumbent party president since 2011 onwards), another Christian peasant group known as the
National Peasant Alliance ( ro, Alianța Național Țărăniștă - Țărăniștii, ANȚ) seceded from the main PNȚCD in 2019 (which, according to them and their electoral basin, greatly drifted from its original ideology) and centered around leader
Radu Ghidău (one of the youngest PNȚCD MPs during the legislature of the late 1990s, more specifically the one spanning over 1996–2000) for the
2020 Romanian local elections.
History
1989–1992
![Film 004 017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Film_004_017.jpg)
The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party was (re)-founded by
Corneliu Coposu
Corneliu (Cornel) Coposu () (20 May 1914 – 11 November 1995) was a Christian Democratic and liberal conservative Romanian politician, the founder of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Cre ...
,
Ioan Alexandru
Ioan Alexandru (; born Ion Șandor , December 25, 1941 – September 16, 2000) was a Romanian poet, essayist and politician. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he became a founding member and vice-president of the Christian Democratic Nation ...
, and
Ion Rațiu
Ion Rațiu (; 6 June 1917 – 17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician as well as the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) in the ...
in December 1989, being thus the first officially registered political party after the
fall of Communism
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
. The party competed in the
1990 elections, where it ranked 4th with 2.5% (or 348,637 votes) and supported Ion Rațiu for president. The PNȚCD presidential candidate ranked 3rd, with 4.3% (or 617,007 votes).
Given the political dominance of the
National Salvation Front (FSN) that was exerted prior and after the first free elections in post-1989 Romania, the PNȚCD decided to form a consistent alliance of centre-right parties aiming mainly to oppose it.
As a result, in 1991, most notably alongside the
National Liberal Party (but also with other noteworthy civic organisations, foundations, and minor additional right-leaning political parties), the PNȚCD formed the
Romanian Democratic Convention
The Romanian Democratic Convention ( ro, Convenţia Democrată Română or Convenția Democratică Română; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-Communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties ...
(CDR).
Eventually, the PNȚCD would affirm itself as the most dominant internal political force for much of the convention's existence. For the period 1990–1992, PNȚCD was one of the main opposition parties.
1992–1996
At the
1992 elections, the party ran on a common CDR list (along with other allied parties within the convention) and supported the candidacy of
Emil Constantinescu
Emil Constantinescu () (born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000.
After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member and vice president ...
as
President of Romania
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Constitution of Romania, Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves ...
. Consequently, the CDR ranked 2nd, having scored 20.16% (or 2,210,722 votes), while Emil Constantinescu managed to qualify in the second round of the presidential election where he finished second with 38.57% (or 4,641,207 votes). For the period 1992–1996, the party was the main opposition force in the
Parliament of Romania
The Parliament of Romania ( ro, Parlamentul României) is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies ( ro, Camera Deputaților) and the Senate ( ro, Senat). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...
.
1996–2000
At the
1996 elections, CDR managed to rank 1st, with 30.70% (or 3,772,084 votes), and once again supported the candidacy of Emil Constantinescu, who also managed to win the presidency with 54.41% (or 7,057,906 votes). For the period 1996–2000, PNȚCD was the most important governing party within the CDR, being also part of a grand coalition which included the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
(PD) and the
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 ...
(UDMR/RMDSZ).
At the
2000 elections
The following elections occurred in the year 2000.
Africa
* 2000 Ethiopian general election
* 2000 Ghanaian presidential election
* 1999–2000 Guinea-Bissau general election
* 2000–01 Ivorian parliamentary election
* 2000 Ivorian presiden ...
, PNȚCD ran on a common CDR 2000 list and scored 5.30% (or 575,706 votes), being unable to pass the electoral threshold required for an alliance. This weak electoral result was primarily owed to the fragmentation of the alliance and the scission of the Romanian right into several other parties as well as to the tumultuous previous governing term. For the period 2000–2004, PNȚCD was in extra-parliamentary opposition.
2004–2008
![SediulPNTCDBuc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/SediulPNTCDBuc.JPG)
At the
2004 elections, PNȚCD ran independently, having obtained 1.9% (or 196,027 votes), failing this time as well to surpass the needed electoral threshold. The party supported the presidential candidacy of
Gheorghe Ciuhandu
Gheorghe Coriolan Ciuhandu (; born 15 June 1947) is a Romanian politician.
A building engineer by profession, he graduated from the Traian Vuia Polytechnic Institute in 1970, earning a doctorate in 1986 and joining the faculty in 1993. He was ...
, former mayor of
Timișoara
), City of Roses ( ro, Orașul florilor), City of Parks ( ro, Orașul parcurilor)
, image_map = Timisoara jud Timis.svg
, map_caption = Location in Timiș County
, pushpin_map = Romania#Europe
, pushpin_ ...
. Ciuhandu eventually ranked 5th in the first round, with 1.9% (or 198,394 votes).
In March 2005, PNȚCD voted to change its name to the Christian Democratic People's Party ( ro, Partidul Popular Creștin-Democrat, ''PPCD'') after the unification with the Union for Romanian Reconstruction. Eventually, it returned to its original name (PNȚCD). The party did not compete in the
2008 legislative elections.
Afterwards, the party was split between a wing sustained by
Marian Petre Miluț
Marian Petre Miluţ (born 29 December 1955, Craiova, Dolj County, Romania) is a Romanian politician, engineer and businessman. He was president of the ''Romanian Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Union'', assisting the Union's co-operation with the ...
supporting
Aurelian Pavelescu as president (who decided on an alliance with the then governing
Democratic Liberal Party, PDL) and one supporting former
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 is not ...
and
Bucharest mayor Victor Ciorbea
Victor Ciorbea (; born on 26 October 1954) is a Romanian jurist, politician, and civil/public servant. He was the Mayor of Bucharest between 1996 and 1997 and, after his resignation from this public dignity/position, Prime Minister of Romania fr ...
as president (who, at that time, favoured an alliance with the National Liberal Party).
2011–present
![Bucharest - Dec 2014 - B-dul Carol I 07](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Bucharest_-_Dec_2014_-_B-dul_Carol_I_07.jpg)
Victor Ciorbea was elected on 18 June 2011 president of the party. In September 2011, the Bucharest Courthouse (responsible for the parties registry) recognised
Victor Ciorbea
Victor Ciorbea (; born on 26 October 1954) is a Romanian jurist, politician, and civil/public servant. He was the Mayor of Bucharest between 1996 and 1997 and, after his resignation from this public dignity/position, Prime Minister of Romania fr ...
as party president. Nonetheless, the split continued until Ciorbea left the party (until October 2012 namely) in order to become a senator on PNL's lists. Pavelescu was subsequently recognised as president and the fractions were dissolved.
For the
2012 legislative elections, PNȚCD ran on a common
Right Romania Alliance
The Right Romania Alliance ( ro, Alianţa România Dreaptă, ARD, also translating to "Just Romania Alliance") was a Romanian electoral alliance formed between the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Part ...
(ARD), along with the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), and the
Civic Force
Civic Force ( ro, Forța Civică, FC) was a list of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It was founded in 2004 by former Mayor of Bucharest Viorel Lis (formerly affiliated with the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Part ...
(FC). The party won one senator seat and one deputy seat. On 23 April 2013, Pavelescu was elected president of the party.
At the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, the party gained only 0.89% of the cast votes, with candidates like former EP member
Sebastian Bodu and the current party president, Aurelian Pavelescu, opening the list.
Following the
2019 European Parliament election
The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...
and thanks to an agreement between the party and 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
For ...
(PSD), the party has 1
MEP, more specifically
Cristian Terheș
Cristian-Vasile Terheș (born December 4, 1978) is a Romanian politician currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament for Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) after being elected on the Social Democratic Party (PS ...
.
For the
2019 Romanian presidential election, the party did not compete but endorsed PSD candidate Viorica Dăncilă. Furthermore, the party did not compete for the
2020 Romanian legislative election but it did compete for the
2020 Romanian local elections, where it won 1 mayor and 42 local councillors.
Motto
Its motto as of 2006 was ''Fiecare contează'' (''Each one counts''). At the
2014 EU elections, PNȚCD's motto was ''Renaștem pentru România ta!'' (''Reborn for your Romania!'').
Ideology
The PNȚCD is an
agrarian,
Christian democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
, and
Christian humanist
Christian humanism regards humanist principles like universal human dignity, individual freedom, and the importance of happiness as essential and principal or even exclusive components of the teachings of Jesus. Proponents of the term trace the ...
political party that stands for "social justice, Christian morality and enlightened patriotism." The party is
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
and supports de-Sovietization within Romania. It supports the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...
in conjunction with the
Romanian constitution and seeks to protect the cultural and traditional rights of all Romanian people. It also claims to support equal opportunities for all Romanians, uphold rule of law, defends the right to private property ownership, and calls for economic reform to stimulate the
Romanian economy
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
.
Internationally, the party is a member of
Centrist Democrat International
The Centrist Democrat International ( es, Internacional Demócrata de Centro) is a Christian-democratic political international. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian D ...
(CDI) along with other Christian democratic and
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
movements and was affiliated with the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily Ch ...
(EPP) in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
before joining the
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European pol ...
(ECR) group.
Electoral history
Legislative elections
Notes:
1 CDR members in 1992: PNȚCD, PAC (7 senators and 13 deputies), PNL-AT (1 senator and 11 deputies), PSDR (1 senator and 10 deputies), PNL-CD (4 senators and 3 deputies), and PER
Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita.
Per or PER may also refer to:
Places
* IOC country code for Peru
* Pér, a village in Hungary
* Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland
Math ...
(no senators and 4 deputies).
2 CDR members in 1996: PNȚCD, PNL (22 senators and 28 deputies), PNL-CD (1 senator and 4 deputies), PAR (3 senators and 3 deputies), PER
Per is a Latin preposition which means "through" or "for each", as in per capita.
Per or PER may also refer to:
Places
* IOC country code for Peru
* Pér, a village in Hungary
* Chapman code for Perthshire, historic county in Scotland
Math ...
(1 senator and 5 deputies), and Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER - 1 senator and 1 deputy).
3 CDR 2000 members: PNȚCD, UFD, Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER), National Christian Democratic Alliance (ANCD), and The Moldavians' Party (PM).
4 PNȚCD competed on PNL lists.
5 Right Romania Alliance
The Right Romania Alliance ( ro, Alianţa România Dreaptă, ARD, also translating to "Just Romania Alliance") was a Romanian electoral alliance formed between the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Part ...
(ARD) members: PDL (22 senators and 52 deputies), FC (1 senators and 3 deputies), and PNȚCD.
Presidential elections
Notes:
1 Emil Constantinescu was the common centre-right candidate who was endorsed by the PNȚCD in both 1992 and 1996 as part of the larger Romanian Democratic Convention
The Romanian Democratic Convention ( ro, Convenţia Democrată Română or Convenția Democratică Română; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-Communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties ...
(CDR).
2 Mugur Isărescu was endorsed by the PNȚCD at the 2000 elections as part of the Romanian Democratic Convention 2000 (CDR 2000) alliance.
3 Electoral protocol endorsing Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...
, the candidate of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), due to a decision enforced by the then official fraction of the PNȚCD led by Marian Petre Miluț
Marian Petre Miluţ (born 29 December 1955, Craiova, Dolj County, Romania) is a Romanian politician, engineer and businessman. He was president of the ''Romanian Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Union'', assisting the Union's co-operation with the ...
.
4 Elena Udrea was endorsed by the 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 ...
(PMP)-PNȚCD alliance at the 2014 Romanian presidential election.
5 Electoral protocol endorsing Viorica Dăncilă
Vasilica Viorica Dăncilă (; born 16 December 1963) is a Romanian politician, former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), and was Prime Minister of Romania from 29 January 2018 to 4 November 2019. She is the first woman in Romanian his ...
, the candidate of 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
For ...
(PSD).
European elections
Notes:
1 Electoral protocol endorsing 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
For ...
(PSD).
Presidents of the party
Notable members
References
Further reading
* Lavinia Stan, “From Riches to Rags: The Romanian National Christian Democrat Peasant Party,” ''East European Quarterly'', vol. 39, no. 2 (Summer 2005), pp. 179–227.
External links
Official siteOfficial site of Cluj County OrganizationNews about PNȚCDHistory of PNȚCDPast leaders of PNȚCD
{{Authority control
1989 establishments in Romania
Agrarian parties in Romania
Centre-right parties in Europe
Christian democratic parties in Europe
Conservative parties in Romania
European Christian Political Movement
Monarchist parties in Romania
Political parties established in 1989
Registered political parties in Romania