Mircea Dușa (1 April 1955 – 19 December 2022) was a Romanian economist and politician, who was the minister of the Interior from 6 August to 21 December 2012, and then Minister of National Defense from 21 December 2012 to 17 November 2015, both times in the cabinets of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

Life and career

Dușa was born to Romanian working-class parents in Toplița in the Magyar Autonomous Region during the Communist regime. He finished his secondary education in 1974 and for two years fulfilled his military service. In 1976, he returned to civilian life and became an official with the City People's Council in Toplița. In 1978 he joined the ranks of the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ro, Partidul Comunist Român, , PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that wou ...

. He was elected to the board of his city in 1986 and held the position of vice president until 1990, after which he became vice mayor, and then mayor (1996–2000). In 1996 he joined the Social Democratic Party and from 2001 to 2004 he was

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

Mureș County Mureș County (, ro, Județul Mures, hu, Maros megye) is a county ('' județ'') of Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative ...

. In 2004 Dușa was elected to 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 ...

, as part of the

Harghita County Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...

delegation. On 4 November 2015, Dușa was proposed as Prime Minister of the Interim Government after the resignation of Victor Ponta by the latter; however,

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 in ...

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 ...

appointed Sorin Cîmpeanu, the Minister of National Education, as acting prime minister on the following day, instead of Dușa. Dușa died of cancer on 19 December 2022, at the age of 67. He was buried with military honors at Nazna Cemetery, in

Sâncraiu de Mureș Sâncraiu de Mureș ( hu, Marosszentkirály, Hungarian pronunciation: meaning "Holy King on the Mureș River") is a commune in Mureș County, Transylvania, Romania composed of two villages: *Nazna / Náznánfalva *Sâncraiu de Mureș Around 19 ...

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* * 1955 births 2022 deaths People from Toplița University of Bucharest alumni Romanian Communist Party politicians Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians Mayors of places in Romania Prefects of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Romanian Ministers of Defence Romanian Ministers of Interior Deaths from cancer in Romania {{Romania-stub