Raluca Turcan (née Tatarcan; 2 April 1976) is a
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 ...
n politician. A member of the
National Liberal Party (PNL), she has been a member of the
Romanian Chamber of Deputies
); – Committee for Industries and Services ( ro, Comisia pentru industrii și servicii); – Committee for Transport and Infrastructure ( ro, Comisia pentru transporturi și infrastructură); – Committee for Agriculture, Forestry, Food Indu ...
for
Sibiu County
Sibiu County () is a county ( ro, județ) of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Its county seat ( ro, reședință de județ) is the namesake town of Sibiu (german: Hermannstadt).
Name
In Hungarian, it is known as ''Szeben ...
since 2004.
She has been married to
Valeriu Turcan Valeriu Turcan (born May 22, 1976) is a Romanian political consultant and journalist. From 2007 to 2012, he served as press secretary to President Traian Băsescu, as well as being an adviser of his in the Presidency's Communications Department. He ...
, a former adviser to
Romanian President
The president of Romania ( ro, Președintele României) is the head of state of Romania. Following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, the president is directly elected by a two-round system and serves for five years. An indi ...
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 ...
, since 2004. The couple have a son, Eric, born in 2007.
Biography
She was born in
Botoșani
Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Western Moldavia, Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. ...
to Dumitru and Maria-Margareta Tatarcan; her father is a high school principal. She studied in the Faculty of International Economic Relations at the
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies ( ro, Academia de Studii Economice din București, abbreviated ''ASE'') is a public university in Bucharest, Romania. Founded in 1913 as the ''Academy of Higher-level Commercial and Industrial Studies'' ...
, graduating in 1999. She was also enrolled at
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
's Pushkin Institute from 1996 to 1999, and earned a degree in business
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
from there. In 2006, she began work on a master's degree in political marketing at the
, and that year she also began a doctorate at the
Transylvania University of Braşov. She has also pursued studies in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. From 1999 to 2000, she worked as a public relations consultant for Tofan Grup, an automobile tyre distributor. She was then a parliamentary expert at the
Romanian Senate
) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-list ...
from 2000 to 2004, and from 2000 to 2006 was an associated professor at Transylvania University and at the
Romanian-German University of Sibiu.
[Curriculum vitae at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site]
accessed 5 May 2009
Turcan began her political career in 2000, as an adviser to the president of the National Council of the
National Liberal Party (PNL). In 2002, she moved on to become an adviser to PNL President
Theodor Stolojan
Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) bef ...
, which she remained until 2004. That year, which saw her
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a populatio ...
to Parliament, she joined the PNL's national leadership council, remaining until 2006. After being ejected from the PNL, she and fellow party dissidents
Valeriu Stoica and
Cristian Boureanu
Cristian Alexandru Boureanu (born December 15, 1972) is a Romanian businessman and politician. A former member of the Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), he was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Argeș County from 2004 to 2012.
He an ...
joined the Stolojan-founded
Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), serving as its vice president from March until December 2007. At that point, the party merged with the Democratic Party and Turcan became vice president of the new formation, the PDL.
She was
re-elected in 2008. While in the Chamber, she has served on several committees, and has twice been president of the Committee on Culture, Arts and Mass Media (2005–2006; since 2008). At the
2012 election
This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/ federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included.
January
*3–4 January: ...
, she placed second in her district, but won another term through the redistribution mechanism specified by the electoral law. Following the PNL's loss in the
2016 election and the resignation of its president
Alina Gorghiu
Alina-Ștefania Gorghiu (; born September 16, 1978) is a Romanian lawyer and politician who served as president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) from December 2014 until December 2016. She was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for ...
, Turcan served as interim party leader, until the election of
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 a permanent basis. In May 2019, following the vacancy left by the incarceration of
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 ...
, she ran for
Chamber President, losing to
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 ...
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).
Controversies
Turcan has worked with civil society groups focusing on mass media, free expression, human rights and health. She has co-authored an English-Russian-Romanian dictionary of economic terms, as well as the book ''Integrare şi politică fiscală europeană'' ("Integration and European Fiscal Policy"). Additionally, she has published studies on
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
and public relations.
During her career in politics, Turcan has been the subject of some controversy. After
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 ...
became PNL President and
Prime Minister of Romania
The prime minister of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul României), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania ( ro, Prim-ministrul Guvernului României, link=no), is the head of the Government of Romania. Initially, the office was s ...
in 2004, her public criticisms of the party began to increase, so that in July 2006, the party gave her a warning, to which she responded that she would continue making similar statements. She kept her word, and the party expelled her that September. Continuing to attack Tăriceanu, she was at the forefront of a group of PD-L deputies who in March 2008 asked prosecutors to investigate the prime minister for abuse of office and corruption in his attempts to impose an automobile tax (he has links to the industry), and, a year later, before Tăriceanu lost the PNL presidency, declared a united right-wing party encompassing the PD-L and the PNL could be formed if he and a few people around him left the PNL. Shortly after her expulsion, she complained of "a trio monopolising the party, made up of Tăriceanu,
Olteanu and
Orban Orban, also known as Urban ( hu, Orbán; died 1453), was an iron founder and engineer from Brassó, Transylvania, in the Kingdom of Hungary (today Brașov, Romania), who cast large-calibre artillery for the Ottoman siege of Constantinople in 1453.
...
, which has practically confiscated it and eliminates anyone who dares share a point of view different from theirs". By contrast, she has been a public supporter of Băsescu, whom she notes shares the PD-L's objectives, and
whose suspension she called "a serious abuse". She also predicted that then-PNL leader
Crin Antonescu
George Crin Laurențiu Antonescu (; born 21 September 1959) is a Romanian politician, who was President of the National Liberal Party (PNL) from 2009 to 2014. He also served as the country Acting President after the impeachment of Traian Băsesc ...
would lose to Băsescu at the
2009 election and noted the party risked marginalisation if it continued its anti-Băsescu strategy. Turcan supports modifying the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When ...
in order to enhance presidential powers to those found in a consolidated
semi-presidential system
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
.
["Raluca Turcan: Prin modificarea Constituţiei preşedintele trebuie să devină principalul factor al puterii executive" ("Raluca Turcan: Through Constitutional Modification, the President Should Become the Chief Executive Actor")]
''Ziua'', 30 January 2009; accessed 5 May 2009
References
External links
Official siteProfile at the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turcan, Raluca
1976 births
Bucharest Academy of Economic Studies alumni
Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians
Living people
Deputy Prime Ministers of Romania
Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania)
Members of the Romanian Orthodox Church
National Liberal Party (Romania) politicians
People from Botoșani
Academic staff of the Transilvania University of Brașov
Romanian public relations people
National University of Political Studies and Public Administration alumni
21st-century Romanian women politicians
21st-century Romanian politicians