The next Romanian legislative elections must be held at the latest before 21 March 2025 (highly likely at some point during late 2024), that is three months after the term of the incumbent legislature of the

Romanian Parliament 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 in Bu ...

(i.e. LVI) expires. The forthcoming Romanian legislative elections are most likely going to take place in either November or December 2024, along with the presidential election of that year. If that will be the case, it will be for the first time 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 ...

since the 2004 general election, that the

local Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, legislative, and presidential elections alike will all be held during the same year, thereby creating the premise for a resurgence of the general election in Romania. Nevertheless, a snap election may be called by the still incumbent

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, more specifically

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; also spelled Johannis; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist and former teacher who has been serving as the president of Romania since 2014. He became leader of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...

, in accordance with the constitutional provisions (i.e. after the dissolution of the current legislature of the incumbent parliament) even considerably earlier than to term in late 2024.

Background

Following the previous elections in December 2020, the

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 ...

was appointed, backed by a

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 ...

coalition of three Romanian political

parliamentary parties This is a list of political groups by country. A political group also known as a political alliance, coalition or bloc, is cooperation by members of different political parties on a common agenda of some kind. This usually involves formal agreem ...

as follows: the

conservative liberal Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with Conservatism, conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement.Michael Gallagher (academic), M ...

National Liberal Party (PNL), the progressive liberal/

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

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 ...

(which subsequently switched back to the old

USR USR may refer to: * USRobotics, a technology firm * USR (Guadeloupe football club), in Sainte-Rose, Guadeloupe * U.S. Robots and Mechanical Men, a fictional robot manufacturer * /usr, directory in Unix systems, see Filesystem Hierarchy Standard ...

acronym in late 2021), and the Hungarian minority-oriented

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). In

, the President also plays an active role in politics, in spite of the constitutional prerogatives which held that he should act as an arbiter and/or mediator instead. Following the December 2019 presidential election,

of the National Liberal Party (PNL) was re-elected for another five years. Nonetheless, he is not eligible for a third consecutive term in 2024 or any longer in the future for that matter. Both legislative and presidential terms will end in late 2024. Hence, both election types could be held on the same days, which would be the first time for such an electoral concatenation in Romania since the 2004 general election.

Organization

On 18 December 2019, the head of the AEP stated that internet voting would be implemented for the 2024 electoral year.

Events

Governmental crisis (September–November 2021)

The

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 ...

, which took office on 23 December 2020, comprised two

parties, namely the PNL and the UDMR/RMDSZ as well as the progressive liberal

(which, after its latest congress held in early October 2021, returned to its initial official denomination, more specifically

). In September 2021, a major rift within the coalition led to the onset of the 2021 Romanian political crisis. Prime Minister Cîțu, with the unconditional support of President

, sacked Justice minister Stelian Ion. All the other USR ministers withdrew from government by 7 September 2021, which left the Cîțu cabinet in minority (with the limited support of PNL and UDMR/RMDSZ). Subsequently, two motions of no-confidence were filed, one by

and the extremist-populist AUR and the second by 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) with the three parties holding together a majority of seats needed for the dismissal of Prime Minister Cîțu and his minority cabinet. Furthermore, Florin Cîțu was contested within the PNL but, in counterpart, received full support of President Iohannis, as he also sought to obtain the PNL leadership from previous PNL president

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 (Romania), National Liberal Party (PNL) betw ...

. On 25 September 2021, Cîțu defeated Orban in the leadership vote of the PNL Congress. USR PLUS also held a leadership vote where Dacian Cioloș was elected new party president with 50.9% of the votes over Dan Barna, and the party's name switched to USR again. In addition, the party line was still to remove Cîțu as Prime Minister. On 4 October, Cîțu stated that any collaboration with USR was now impossible. According to the incumbent USR Mayor of Brașov, Allen Coliban, Cîțu's minority government held thanks for its limited existence only to the PSD. Nevertheless, on 5 October, the PSD motion of no-confidence was put to a vote, and won a large majority of 281, corresponding to PSD, USR, and AUR. Cîțu continued to serve as

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

Prime Minister until the next government, more specifically the

Ciucă cabinet The Ciucă Cabinet () is the 132nd and current government of Romania led by former Romanian Land Forces army general Nicolae Ciucă (PNL; also current PNL president) since 25 November 2021 to the present day. The grand coalition forming the g ...

, was sworn in on 25 November.

New political parties

On 19 September 2021, former PSD president

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 ...

, along with former and current ally Codrin Ștefănescu, launched the '' Alliance for the Homeland'' ( ro, Alianța pentru Patrie, ''ApP''), a split-off from PSD and an alternative to it according to both. On 3 October 2021, former PNL Prime Minister

, who had just been defeated for the leadership of the PNL by Florin Cîțu at the 2021 party congress, stated that he is willing "to create a new political construction which would be ready to continue PNL's legacy". In this regard, at that time it was thought that he could be following the steps of

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 ...

, another former national liberal Prime Minister who left PNL in order to establish his own political party, more specifically ALDE (which was subsequently absorbed by the PNL during late March 2022). In addition, before further concrete steps on behalf of Orban, various commentators stated that Orban's faction could part ways with the main PNL should he not be designated PM after Cîțu's dismissal by the Parliament (which also occurred in the meantime). Subsequently, after PNL started negotiations with the PSD, more and more MPs resigned from the PNL and joined Orban's faction in the Parliament. Orban's new party was officially registered in December 2021 and is called "

Force of the Right Force of the Right ( ro, Forța Dreptei, FD), sometimes translated as Right's Force or Right Force, is a liberal-conservative political party in Romania founded in December 2021 by Ludovic Orban, former National Liberal Party (PNL) president and ...

" (or FD for short). Former PSD president and Prime Minister

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 ...

has, in the meantime, become president of the

Nation People Together Nation People Together ( ro, Națiune Oameni Împreună, NOI) is a political party in Romania, founded on 13 January 2022 by Bogdan Petrescu, along with three other people. The party is largely associated with former president of the Social Democr ...

(NOI) party. Former

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

technocratic Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

Prime Minister and

PLUS Plus may refer to: Mathematics * Addition * +, the mathematical sign Music * ''+'' (Ed Sheeran album), (pronounced "plus"), 2011 * ''Plus'' (Cannonball Adderley Quintet album), 1961 * ''Plus'' (Matt Nathanson EP), 2003 * ''Plus'' (Martin Ga ...

/USR PLUS/USR member (as well as former USR president)

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Agriculture Minister under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu between October 2007 and ...

officially quit the USR on 31 May 2022 to form a brand new party called REPER. Several MEPs (more specifically 4) who have been previously elected on the lists of the 2020 USR PLUS Alliance at the 2019 European Parliament election in Romania have sided with Dacian Cioloș for his newly established political project, but still remain affiliated with the

Renew Renew or renewal may refer to: Media and entertainment * ''Renew'' (album), a 2002 album by The Badlees * ''Renewal'' (film), a 2008 documentary on the religious environmental movement * ''Renewal'' (magazine), a UK journal of Labour politics * ' ...

group 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 ...

. REPER can thus be considered a splinter of USR.

New political alliances

In May 2022, the

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party ( ro, Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, officially abbreviated PNȚCD) is a Christian democratic and agrarian political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor o ...

(PNȚCD) announced that it will prepare a new political alliance with the Alliance for the Homeland (ApP, formerly known under the pseudo-patriotic acronym PAINE) for the forthcoming Romanian legislative elections scheduled to take place in late 2024. The two parties will allegedly form a "sovereignist" block which will oppose the

National Coalition for Romania The National Coalition for Romania ( ro, Coaliția Națională pentru România, CNR) is a grand coalition in Romania, which includes the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians ...

(CNR). In late August however,

, strongly associated in the past with the party at an unofficial level, has decided to indefinitely distance himself from the ApP.

Political groups

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Social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

Social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutio ...

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 equali ...

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 ...

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;" , 29.3% , , style="text-align:center;" , 28.9% , , , , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , PNL , National Liberal Party
( ) , style="font-size:85%;",

Conservatism 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 civilizati ...

Christian democracy 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 ...

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''. Politi ...

Nicolae Ciucă Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (; born 7 February 1967) is a Romanian politician and retired General officer, general of the Romanian Land Forces. Ideologically a Conservatism, conservative, he has been serving as Prime Minister of Romania since 25 Novemb ...

, style="text-align:center;" , 25.5% , , style="text-align:center;" , 25.1% , , , , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , USR ,

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 (following ...

) , style="font-size:85%;",

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 measu ...

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 ...

Progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

, Cătălin Drulă , style="text-align:center;" , 16.0% , , style="text-align:center;" , 15.3% , , , , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , AUR ,

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians ( ro, Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor, AUR) is a right-wing populist and nationalist political party currently active in Romania and Moldova. It was founded on 19 September 2019. This was done with the ...

( ) , style="font-size:85%;", ,

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (born 21 September 1986 in Focșani, Romania) is a Romanian right-wing to far-right politician and civic activist. He is the president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), a political party in Romania that g ...

, style="text-align:center;" , 9.1% , , style="text-align:center;" , 9.0% , , colspan="2" , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , UDMR
RMDSZ ,

( ; ) , style="font-size:85%;", Hungarian minority interests,

,
Regionalism,

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 ...

, style="text-align:center;" , 5.8% , , style="text-align:center;" , 5.7% , , , , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , FD ,

( ) , style="font-size:85%;",

Right-wing populism Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti-elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establi ...

Liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

, style="text-align:center;" , ''Didn't exist'' , , style="text-align:center;" , ''Didn't exist'' , , colspan="2" , - , style="background:#c40075" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , REPER ,

Renewing Romania's European Project Renewing Romania's European Project ( ro, Reînnoim Proiectul European al României, REPER) is a social liberal and pro-European political party in Romania. It is a splinter of the Save Romania Union (USR) currently led by Dragoș Pîslaru and ...

( ) , style="font-size:85%;",

Technocracy Technocracy is a form of government in which the decision-maker or makers are selected based on their expertise in a given area of responsibility, particularly with regard to scientific or technical knowledge. This system explicitly contrasts wi ...

, Dragoș Pîslaru/ Ramona Strugariu
(

ad interim }. Name of episode 1 in season 3 of '' Berlin Station''. , - , ''aut cum scuto aut in scuto'', , either with shield or on shield, , Or, "do or die" or "no retreat". A Greek expression («Ἢ τὰν ἢ ἐπὶ τᾶς») that Spartan mothers sa ...

) , style="text-align:center;" , ''Didn't exist'' , , style="text-align:center;" , ''Didn't exist'' , , colspan="2" , - , style="background:#0066B6" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , PUSL ,

Social Liberal Humanist 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 ...

( ) , style="font-size:85%;",

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 ...

, Daniel Ionașcu , style="text-align:center;" , 1.1% ,
, style="text-align:center;" , 1.0% ,
, colspan="2" , - , style="background:gold" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , NR ,

Romanian Nationhood Party The Romanian Nationhood Party ( ro, Partidul Neamul Românesc, NR or PNR) is a far-right, Romanian nationalist political party. It was founded by Ninel Peia, a former member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The party is critical of Hungari ...

( ) , style="font-size:85%;",

Romanian nationalism Romanian nationalism is the nationalism which asserts that Romanians are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Romanians. Its extremist variation is the Romanian ultranationalism.Aristotle KallisGenocide and Fascism: The Eliminationist Drive ...

National conservatism National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...

Anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

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 ...

Ninel Peia Ninel is a given name. It is feminine in the former Soviet Union and masculine in Romania. In many Soviet cases, it is often considered to be derived from reversing the surname Lenin. It may refer to: *Ninel Aladova (born 1934), Belarusian archite ...

, style="text-align:center" , ''Split from AUR'' , , style="text-align:center" , ''Split from AUR'' , , colspan="2" , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , Ind. , style="font-size:85%;", Independents or

Others Others or The Others may refer to: Fictional characters * Others (A Song of Ice and Fire), Others (''A Song of Ice and Fire''), supernatural creatures in the fictional world of George R. R. Martin's fantasy series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' * Ot ...

, , , , , style="text-align:center;" , 0.85%
6.96% , , colspan="2" , - , style="background:" , , style="text-align:center;letter-spacing:-1px;" , Vac. , style="font-size:85%;", Vacant seats , , , , , style="text-align:center;" , 0.85%
0.00% , , colspan="2" , -

Electoral system

The 330 members of the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

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 A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

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 abroad (two seats).Electoral system
IPU

Opinion polls

The graphic below details the current overall voting intention for the forthcoming 2024 Romanian legislative elections, as of July 2022: Opinion polling for the next Romanian legislative election

Opinion polling for the next Romanian legislative election

Notes

References

{{Romanian elections

2025

Background

Organization

Events

Governmental crisis (September–November 2021)

New political parties

New political alliances

Political groups

Electoral system

Opinion polls

See also

Notes

References