The People's Movement Party ( ro, Partidul Mișcarea Populară, PMP) is a minor extra-parliamentary nominally
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 ...
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 democrati ...
,
national-conservative
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, ...
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 ideological or p ...
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 ...
.
History
The PMP was created as a political foundation in March, 2013 by supporters of then incumbent state president
Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a 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 between 1991 ...
, following his break with the leadership of the
Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) around former Senate president
Vasile Blaga. It was transformed into a political party in July, 2013
and re-launched on 29 January 2014.
The PMP identifies itself as
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 democrati ...
and
liberal.
The new party's chairman after June 2014 was former minister of regional development and tourism and Băsescu's confidante
Elena Udrea
Elena Gabriela Udrea (; born 26 December 1973) is a Romanian politician. An independent who held office while in the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and then the People's Movement Party (PMP), she was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies ...
. Other notable members include former culture minister
Theodor Paleologu, former foreign minister
Teodor Baconschi
Teodor Baconschi (, also spelled Teodor Baconsky or Baconski) (born 14 February 1963) is a Romanian politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania between December 2009 and January 2012.
Early years
Baconschi was born in Buchares ...
, former minister of education
Daniel Funeriu, or member of European Parliament (MEP)
Cristian Preda
Cristian Dan Preda (born October 26, 1966) is a Romanian professor and politician.
He is professor of political science at the University of Bucharest and was between 2009 and 2019 a Member of the European Parliament.
Education and academic c ...
, Băsescu's daughter and MEP
Elena Băsescu. and former Foreign Minister and head of the presidential administration
Cristian Diaconescu.
In the
2014 European election, the party won 6.2% of the votes and two of Romania's 32 seats. Its
members of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
Siegfried Mureșan and
Cristian Preda
Cristian Dan Preda (born October 26, 1966) is a Romanian professor and politician.
He is professor of political science at the University of Bucharest and was between 2009 and 2019 a Member of the European Parliament.
Education and academic c ...
joined the
European People's Party Group
The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEP ...
(EPP), although Preda has since been expelled from the party. On 12 September 2014, the PMP was admitted as a full member to 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 ...
(EPP).
For the
November 2014 presidential election, the PMP nominated Elena Udrea. She was also endorsed by 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 ...
(PNȚ-CD). With 5.2% of the popular vote, she was placed fourth and did not qualify for the second round. The party asked its voters to support
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 (PNL) in 20 ...
of the
National Liberal Party (PNL) in the runoff election.
On 12 July 2016, Traian Băsescu announced that the
National Union for the Progress of Romania
The National Union for the Progress of Romania ( ro, Uniunea Națională pentru Progresul României, UNPR) is a political party in Romania. The party was formed in March 2010 by independents who had broken away from the Social Democratic Party (P ...
(UNPR) would merge with PMP on 20 July 2016. Subsequently, the union between the two parties failed and PMP lost several representatives both in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies.
In the
2020 legislative election, due to poor presence at the polling stations (33.30%) caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, the party failed to earn 5% of the public vote and thereby failed to enter
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 ...
. The episode was controversial to say at least as the party was very close to the
threshold and had zero votes in several polling stations in which they had party representatives whose votes were nowhere to be found. As a result, the party contested the results and demanded recounting the votes in as many as 1,090 polling stations. Nonetheless, this demand was ultimately refused by the Central Electoral Bureau ( ro, Biroul Electoral Central, BEC). This failure led the party president,
Eugen Tomac, to resign from the party's leadership.
After a party congress held on 7 March 2021,
Cristian Diaconescu was elected the new president and designated the party's candidate for the forthcoming
2024 Romanian presidential election. On 19 February 2022, Eugen Tomac returned to the presidency of the party.
Ideology
When it was founded, the party identified itself as
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 democrati ...
,
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 in ...
, and
economic liberal.
However, in the later years, the party became more
traditionalist. Nowadays, it opposes the
immigration of foreigners into EU (especially of Muslims),
Marxism
Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
,
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes th ...
,
globalisation
Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...
, and
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
.
Leadership
Notable members
Current notable members
*
Traian Băsescu
Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a 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 between 1991 ...
;
*
Eugen Tomac;
*
Elena Băsescu;
*
Robert Turcescu;
*
Mihail Neamțu.
Former notable members
*
Theodor Paleologu;
*
Elena Udrea
Elena Gabriela Udrea (; born 26 December 1973) is a Romanian politician. An independent who held office while in the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and then the People's Movement Party (PMP), she was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies ...
;
*
Cristian Preda
Cristian Dan Preda (born October 26, 1966) is a Romanian professor and politician.
He is professor of political science at the University of Bucharest and was between 2009 and 2019 a Member of the European Parliament.
Education and academic c ...
*
Adrian Papahagi;
*
Cristian Diaconescu;
*
Daniel Funeriu;
*
Siegfried Mureșan.
Electoral history
Legislative elections
Notes:
1 These MPs were previously elected on the PDL PDL is an initialism for:
Politics
* Democratic Liberal Party (''Partidul Democrat Liberal''), a former political party in Romania
*Labour Democratic Party (''Partito Democratico del Lavoro''), a former political party in Italy
*Pole of Freedom ...
list of the larger ARD electoral alliance at the 2012 legislative election.
Local elections
National results
Mayor of Bucharest
Presidential elections
Notes:
1 Elena Udrea's candidacy to presidency in 2014 was also supported by 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).
European elections
References
External links
*
{{Unification of Moldova and Romania
2013 establishments in Romania
Christian democratic parties in Europe
Eastern Orthodox political parties
Conservative parties in Romania
Liberal parties in Romania
Member parties of the European People's Party
National conservative parties
Political parties established in 2013
Pro-European political parties in Romania
Registered political parties in Romania
Romanian nationalist parties
Anti-immigration politics in Europe
Anti-Islam sentiment in Europe