Vasile Blaga (; born 26 July 1956) is a Romanian politician who was Speaker of the Upper Chamber 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 ...

, 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 ...

, from 2011 to 2012. He also served as Minister of Regional Development and Housing and twice as Minister of Administration and Internal Affairs. A member of the Democratic Party (PD), he was the Minister of Administration and Interior in the first

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-pr ...

government (December, 2004–March, 2007) as well as in one of the Emil Boc's governments. He resigned on 27 September 2010. On 28 November 2011, Blaga was appointed President of the Senate of Romania after the revocation of Mircea Geoană on 23 November. On 30 June 2012, he became the leader of PDL in an extraordinary session following the huge loss suffered by the party in the local elections earlier that month. He was dismissed from the office of President of the Senate on 3 July 2012.

Political career

Born in Petrileni,

Bihor County Bihor County () is a county (județ) in western Romania. With a total area of , Bihor is Romania's 6th largest county geographically and the main county in the historical region of Crișana. Its capital city is Oradea. Toponymy The origin of ...

, Blaga started his political career after the fall of Communism in Romania in 1989. He was a Member of Parliament in 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 ...

, representing

, between 1990 and 1991, after which he became the Prefect of Bihor, serving until 1993. Following the legislative election of 1996, he became a member of the Romanian Senate from the Democratic Party, representing Bihor County. He was reelected at the 2004 election for the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), of which the Democratic Party (PD) was a member, representing

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 o ...

(where he presently resides). Blaga was appointed as the Minister of Administration and Interior Affairs later in the same year. In 2008, he was a candidate for the position of mayor of Bucharest from the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), seeking to replace incumbent mayor

Adriean Videanu Adriean Marian Videanu (; born 1 June 1962) is a businessman and former mayor of Bucharest, Romania. He is also a vice president of the Democratic Liberal Party of Romania, which was led by Emil Boc and the Minister of Economy in the Boc Cabinet ...

, who did not want to compete for a second term. He came second in the first round of the elections, trailing independent Sorin Oprescu. For the second round, he gained the support of

Gigi Becali George "Gigi" Becali (; born 25 June 1958) is a Romanian businessman and former politician, mostly known for his ownership of the FCSB football club. Becali was a Member of the European Parliament between June 2009 and December 2012, and a Memb ...

's New Generation Party (PNG) and of the Social Democrat mayor Bucharest's Sector 2, Neculai Onțanu, as well as the opposition of National Liberal Party (PNL) 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). Oprescu won the race on a 56-44 margin. He was the president of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) until its dissolution in the summer of 2014, when it merged with the National Liberal Party (PNL), of which he served as co-president, along with

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 ...

, until 28 September 2016. On that date, Blaga was charged with

influence peddling Influence peddling is the practice of using one's influence in government or connections with authorities to obtain favours or preferential treatment for another, usually in return for payment. It is also called traffic of influence or trading i ...

by the

National Anticorruption Directorate The National Anticorruption Directorate ( ro, Direcția Națională Anticorupție (DNA)), formerly National Anticorruption Prosecution Office ( ro, Parchetul Național Anticorupție), is the Romanian agency tasked with preventing, investigating ...

and announced his resignation as party co-leader, though he maintained he is innocent.

Electoral history

Mayor of Bucharest

References

External links

Profile of Vasile Blaga on the Romanian Chamber of Deputies site
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Blaga, Vasile 1956 births Living people People from Bihor County Politehnica University of Timișoara alumni Romanian presidential advisors Democratic Liberal Party (Romania) politicians Romanian Ministers of Interior Romanian Ministers of Regional Development Presidents of the Senate of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Prefects of Romania MEPs for Romania 2019–2024 Chairpersons of the National Liberal Party (Romania)