The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (, PNȚCD) is an agrarian and

Christian democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. It claims to be the rightful successor of the

interwar In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; , or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an Agrarianism, agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It was formed in 1926 throu ...

'' (PNȚ), created from the merger of the

Romanian National Party The Romanian National Party (, PNR), initially known as the Romanian National Party in Transylvania and Banat (), was a political party which was initially designed to offer ethnic representation to Romanians in the Kingdom of Hungary, the Tran ...

(PNR) from the then Austro-Hungarian-ruled

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

and the Peasants' Party (PȚ) from the

Romanian Old Kingdom The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...

. PNȚCD was the largest and most important political party of the

Romanian Democratic Convention The Romanian Democratic Convention (; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties in Romania, active from 1991 until 2000. The most prominent leaders o ...

(, CDR) during the 1990s and was led by

Corneliu Coposu Corneliu (Cornel) Coposu () (20 May 1914 – 11 November 1995) was a Christian Democratic and liberal conservative Romanian politician, the founder of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (), the founder of the Romanian Democratic ...

and

Ion Diaconescu Ion Diaconescu (; 25 August 1917 – 11 October 2011) was a Romanian anti-communist activist and politician. He was imprisoned as a political prisoner for seventeen years from 1947 to 1964 during Romania's Communist era. Diaconescu later becam ...

, two former political prisoners during

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

, but as the 2000s began it gradually feel out of grace amongst

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

Romanian voters and slowly became an inactive

microparty Microparty, micro-party, or micro party is a term, sometimes pejorative, for a small political party that does not attract enough votes to be elected to a legislature in its own right. The term is most commonly used in Australia where the combinat ...

. The party was subsequently excluded from the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

(EPP) in June 2017. Eventually, it joined the

European Christian Political Party The European Christian Political Party (ECPP), formerly known as the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM) from 2002 to April 2025, is a European political party exclusively working on promoting Christian values. The party unites nationa ...

(ECPP, then the European Christian Political Movement) in February 2020. Given a tremendous disdain and resentment towards Pavelescu's leadership (the incumbent party president since 2011 onwards), another Christian peasant group known as the National Peasant Alliance (, ANȚ) seceded from the main PNȚCD in 2019 (which, according to them and their electoral basin, greatly drifted from its original ideology) and centered around leader Radu Ghidău (one of the youngest PNȚCD MPs during the legislature of the late 1990s, more specifically the one spanning over 1996–2000) for the

2020 Romanian local elections Local elections were held in Romania on 27 September 2020. Initially planned for June 2020, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic led the Government of Romania to postpone the elections to a date no later than 31 December 2020, and extending al ...

History

1989–1992

The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party was (re)-founded by

Ioan Alexandru Ioan Alexandru (; born Ion Șandor , December 25, 1941 – September 16, 2000) was a Romanian poet, essayist and politician. After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, he became a founding member and vice-president of the Christian Democratic Nation ...

, and

Ion Rațiu Ion Rațiu (; 6 June 1917 – 17 January 2000) was a Romanian lawyer, diplomat, journalist, businessman, writer, and politician. In addition, he was the official presidential candidate of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD ...

in December 1989, being thus the first officially registered political party after the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

. The party competed in the 1990 elections, where it ranked 4th with 2.5% (or 348,637 votes) and endorsed Ion Rațiu for president. The PNȚCD presidential candidate ranked 3rd, with 4.3% (or 617,007 votes). Given the political dominance of the National Salvation Front (FSN) that was exerted prior and after the first free elections in post-1989 Romania, the PNȚCD decided to form a consistent alliance of centre-right parties aiming mainly to oppose it. As a result, in 1991, most notably alongside the National Liberal Party (PNL; but also with other noteworthy civic organisations, foundations, and minor additional right-leaning political parties), the PNȚCD formed the

(CDR). Eventually, the PNȚCD would affirm itself as the most dominant internal political force for much of the convention's existence. For the period 1990–1992, PNȚCD was one of the main opposition parties.

1992–1996

At the 1992 elections, the party ran on a common CDR list (along with other allied parties within the convention) and endorsed the candidacy of

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu (; born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution, Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member ...

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

. Consequently, the CDR ranked 2nd, having scored 20.16% (or 2,210,722 votes), while Emil Constantinescu managed to qualify in the second round of the presidential election where he finished second with 38.57% (or 4,641,207 votes). For the period 1992–1996, the party was the main opposition force in the

Parliament of Romania The Parliament of Romania () is the national Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate of Romania, Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...

1996–2000

At the 1996 elections, CDR managed to rank 1st, with 30.70% (or 3,772,084 votes), and once again endorsed Emil Constantinescu, who also managed to win the presidency with 54.41% (or 7,057,906 votes). For the period 1996–2000, PNȚCD was the most important governing party within the CDR, being also part of a grand coalition which included the Democratic Party (PD) and the

Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; , RMDSZ ; , UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian minority of Romania. Officially considering itself a federation of minority interests ra ...

(UDMR/RMDSZ). At the 2000 elections, PNȚCD ran on a common CDR 2000 list and scored 5.30% (or 575,706 votes), being unable to pass the electoral threshold required for an alliance. This weak electoral result was primarily owed to the fragmentation of the alliance and the scission of the Romanian right into several other parties as well as to the tumultuous previous governing term. For the period 2000–2004, PNȚCD was in extra-parliamentary opposition.

2004–2008

At the 2004 elections, PNȚCD ran independently, having obtained 1.9% (or 196,027 votes), failing this time as well to surpass the needed electoral threshold. The party endorsed the presidential candidacy of Gheorghe Ciuhandu, former mayor of

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

. Ciuhandu eventually ranked 5th in the first round, with 1.9% (or 198,394 votes). In March 2005, PNȚCD voted to change its name to the Christian Democratic People's Party (, ''PPCD'') after the unification with the Union for Romanian Reconstruction. Eventually, it returned to its original name (PNȚCD). The party did not compete in the 2008 legislative elections. Afterwards, the party was split between a wing sustained by

Marian Petre Miluț Marian Petre Miluţ (born 29 December 1955, Craiova, Dolj County, Romania) is a Romanian politician, engineer and businessman. He was president of the ''Romanian Small and Medium Entrepreneurs Union'', assisting the Union's co-operation with th ...

endorsing

Aurelian Pavelescu Aurelian Pavelescu (born 20 October 1964) is a Romanian politician. He has been serving as the president of the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) since 2011 onwards. Previously, he had also served as a member of the Chamber ...

as president (who decided on an alliance with the then governing Democratic Liberal Party, PDL) and one endorsing former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

and Bucharest mayor

Victor Ciorbea Victor Ciorbea (; born on 26 October 1954) is a Romanian jurist, politician, and civil/public servant. He was the Mayor of Bucharest between 1996 and 1997 and, after his resignation from this public dignity/position, Prime Minister of Romania fr ...

as president (who, at that time, favoured an alliance with the National Liberal Party).

2011–present

Victor Ciorbea was elected on 18 June 2011 president of the party. In September 2011, the Bucharest Courthouse (responsible for the parties registry) recognised

as party president. Nonetheless, the split continued until Ciorbea left the party (until October 2012 namely) in order to become a senator on PNL's lists. Pavelescu was subsequently recognised as president and the fractions were dissolved. For the 2012 legislative elections, PNȚCD ran on a common

Right Romania Alliance The Right Romania Alliance (, ARD, also translating to "Just Romania Alliance") was a Romanian electoral alliance formed between the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD), the Civic Force (FC ...

(ARD), along with the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), and the

Civic Force Civic Force (, FC) was a list of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It was founded in 2004 by former Mayor of Bucharest Viorel Lis (formerly affiliated with the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party or PNȚCD through ...

(FC). The party won one senator seat and one deputy seat. On 23 April 2013, Pavelescu was elected president of the party. At the

2014 European Parliament election The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 22 and 25 May 2014. It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties field ...

, the party gained only 0.89% of the cast votes, with candidates like former EP member

Sebastian Bodu Sebastian Valentin Bodu (born 7 December 1970) is a Romanian politician and previous Member of the European Parliament. He was elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2009, being part of the European People's Party (EPP) group in the European Parliamen ...

and the current party president, Aurelian Pavelescu, opening the list. Following the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

and thanks to an agreement between the party 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 Form ...

(PSD), the party has 1 MEP, more specifically

Cristian Terheș Cristian-Vasile Terheș (born 4 December 1978) is a Romanian politician and journalist, serving as leader of the Romanian National Conservative Party since 2023, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Romania since 2019. Terhes w ...

. For the

2019 Romanian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Romania on 10 November 2019, with a second round held on 24 November 2019. They were the eighth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. Incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, first elected in ...

, the party did not compete but endorsed PSD candidate Viorica Dăncilă. Furthermore, the party did not compete for the

2020 Romanian legislative election Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 6 December 2020 to elect the 136 members of the Senate and the 330 constituent members of the Chamber of Deputies. While the Social Democratic Party (PSD) remained the largest political party in t ...

but it did compete for the

, where it won 1 mayor and 42 local councillors.

Motto

Its motto as of 2006 was ''Fiecare contează'' (''Each one counts''). At the 2014 EU elections, PNȚCD's motto was ''Renaștem pentru România ta!'' (''Reborn for your Romania!'').

Ideology

The PNȚCD is an agrarian,

, and

Christian humanist Christian humanism refers to two intellectual movements: the anti-paganizing wing of sixteenth century Renaissance humanism (the scholarly movement and worldview that recovered the classical humanities and ideals of citizenship and human dignity; ...

political party that stands for "social justice, Christian morality and enlightened patriotism." The party is

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

and advocates for de-Sovietization within Romania. It endorses the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal D ...

in conjunction with the Romanian constitution and seeks to protect the cultural and traditional rights of all Romanian people. It also advocates for equal opportunities for all Romanians, uphold rule of law, defends the right to private property ownership, and calls for economic reform to stimulate the Romanian economy. Internationally, the party is a member of

Centrist Democrat International The Centrist Democrat International (CDI; , IDC) is a political international inspired by the values of Christian democracy. Until 2001, it was known as the Christian Democrat International (CDI); before 1999, it was known as the Christian Demo ...

(CDI) along with other Christian democratic and

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

movements and was affiliated with the

(EPP) in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

before joining the

European Conservatives and Reformists European Conservatives and Reformists may refer to: *European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a soft Eurosceptic European political party *European Conservatives and Reformists Group The European Conservatives and Reformists ...

(ECR) group.

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Notes: ¹ CDR members in 1992: PNȚCD,

PAC Pac or PAC may refer to: Aviation * IATA code PAC Albrook "Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport in Panama City, Panama * Pacific Aerospace Corporation, New Zealand, manufacturer of aircraft: ** PAC 750XL ** PAC Cresco ** PAC CT/4 ** PA ...

(7 senators and 13 deputies), PNL-AT (1 senator and 11 deputies), PSDR (1 senator and 10 deputies), PNL-CD (4 senators and 3 deputies), and

PER Per or PER may refer to: Places * Peru (IOC country code) * Pér, a village in Hungary * Perthshire (Chapman code), historic county in Scotland Science and technology * Physics education research * Packed Encoding Rules, in computing, an ASN.1 wi ...

(no senators and 4 deputies).
² CDR members in 1996: PNȚCD, PNL (22 senators and 28 deputies), PNL-CD (1 senator and 4 deputies),

PAR Par may refer to: Finance * Par value, stated value or face value in finance and accounting * Par yield or par rate, in finance Games * Par (score), the number of strokes a proficient golfer should require to complete a hole, round or tournament ...

(3 senators and 3 deputies),

(1 senator and 5 deputies), and Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER – 1 senator and 1 deputy).
³ CDR 2000 members: PNȚCD, UFD, Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER), National Christian Democratic Alliance (ANCD), and The Moldavians' Party (PM).
⁴ PNȚCD competed on PNL lists.
⁵

(ARD) members: PDL (22 senators and 52 deputies), FC (1 senators and 3 deputies), and PNȚCD.

Presidential elections

Notes: ¹ Emil Constantinescu was the common centre-right candidate who was endorsed by the PNȚCD in both 1992 and 1996 as part of the larger

(CDR).
² Mugur Isărescu was endorsed by the PNȚCD at the 2000 elections as part of the Romanian Democratic Convention 2000 (CDR 2000) alliance.
³ Electoral protocol endorsing

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

, the candidate of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), due to a decision enforced by the then official fraction of the PNȚCD led by

.
⁴ Elena Udrea was endorsed by the

People's Movement Party The People's Movement Party (, PMP) is an extra-parliamentary national-conservative and social conservative political party in Romania. History The PMP was created as a political foundation in March 2013 by supporters of then incumbent sta ...

(PMP)-PNȚCD alliance at the

2014 Romanian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2014. They were the seventh presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. In the first round of the elections on 2 November, the top two of the fourteen candidates qualified in a run-off on 1 ...

.
⁵ Electoral protocol endorsing

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 ...

, the candidate of the

(PSD).

European elections

Notes: ¹ Electoral protocol endorsing the