2008 Romanian legislative election

Legislative elections were held in Romania on 30 November 2008.[3] The Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) won most seats in both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, although the alliance headed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) won a fractionally higher vote share. The two parties subsequently formed a governing coalition with Emil Boc of the PDL as Prime Minister.

2008 Romanian legislative election

30 November 2008[1]
All 137 seats in the Senate All 334 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Turnout	39.20%
First party Second party   Leader Theodor Stolojan Mircea Geoană Party PDL PSD Leader since 2007 (PM Candidate)[2] 2005 Leader's seat not running S 5-17 Last election 29 S / 67 D 45+10 S / 105+19 D Seats won 51 S / 115 D 49 S / 114 D Seat change 22 S / 48 D 6 S / 10 D Popular vote 2,228,860 D 2,279,449 D Percentage 32.36% D 33.09% D   Third party Fourth party   Leader Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Béla Markó Party PNL UDMR Leader since 2004 1993 Leader's seat CD 4-25 S 5-65 Last election 24 S / 60 D 10 S / 22 D Seats won 28 S / 65 D 9 S / 22 D Seat change 4 S / 5 D 1 S / 0 D Popular vote 1,279,063 D 440,449 D Percentage 18.57% D 6.39% D
Prime Minister before election Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu PNL Prime Minister-designate Emil Boc PDL

Electoral system

President Traian Băsescu had wanted to introduce a single-winner two-round electoral system before this election, but a 2007 referendum on the proposal failed due to insufficient turnout. A new electoral system was introduced as a compromise, with the previous party-list proportional representation system changed to a mixed member proportional representation system using sub-county constituencies (colegii electorale). A candidate was declared the winner in any electoral college where they obtained more than 50% of the vote. Seats where no candidate won an outright majority are then allocated using the D'Hondt method. If necessary, the number of seats for each chamber is raised, by giving supplementary seats. An electoral threshold of 5% was applied for each chamber; or winning at least six colleges for the Chamber of Deputies and three colleges for the Senate by more than 50%. There was an additional adjustment for the Chamber of Deputies around the national minorities candidates.[4]

Contenders

The main contenders in the election were the centre-left alliance made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Conservative Party (PC); the liberal-conservative Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L); and the liberal National Liberal Party (PNL).

Other significant contenders were the ethnic Hungarian party Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the right-wing nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM), both of whom were represented in the previous Parliament.

Opinion polls

Polling Firm	Date	Source	PD-L	PSD+PC	PSD	PNL	PNG	UDMR	PRM	PC	PNȚCD	PIN	PCM	Undecided
IMAS	26/06/2008		40%	N/A	26%	18%	5%	5%	3%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
INSOMAR	22-30/07/2008		38%	N/A	26%	16%	3%	4%	3%	2%	2%	2%	1%	N/A
ATLE	25-05/08-09/2008		30.2%	N/A	33.1%	16%	3.2%	4.8%	3.4%	3.1%	1.1%	2%	N/A	N/A
Metro-Media	1-16/09/2008		37%	N/A	28%	17%	3%	5%	5%	3%	1%	3%	N/A	N/A
INSOMAR	12-17/09/2008		39%	N/A	25%	20%	3%	4%	4%	1%	N/A	N/A	1%	N/A
CCSB	22-25/09/2008		34%	36%	N/A	20%	2%	5%	3%	N/A	1%	N/A	N/A	N/A
CURS	10-23/10/2008		32%	31%	N/A	18%	5%	5%	5%	N/A	1%	1%	N/A	N/A
CCSB	25-27/10/2008		34%	37%	N/A	18%	2%	6%	3%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
INSOMAR	30-03/10-11/2008		37%	32%	N/A	17%	3%	6%	5%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CCSB	11/11/2008		34.5%	37.7%	N/A	14.4%	2.3%	6.6%	4.0%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
BCS	10-14/11/2008		34.4%	31.8%	N/A	19.9%	1.9%	5.1%	3.6%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	25.5%
BCS	17-21/11/2008		32.6%	31.2%	N/A	21.4%	2.9%	6.1%	4.1%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	29,5%
INSOMAR	21-23/11/2008		32%	35%	N/A	21%	3%	5%	3%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
CSOP	19-23/11/2008		34%	31%	N/A	21%	3%	7%	3%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	27%
BCS	23-26/11/2008		31.1%	32%	N/A	21.3%	3.2%	6.3%	4.3%	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	26%

The first exit-polls, published by INSOMAR[5] after the polls were closed, predicted the results for the Chamber of Deputies as:

PSD+PC - 36.2% PD-L - 30.3% PNL - 20.4% UDMR - 6.7%

And for the Senate:

PSD+PC - 35.9% PD-L - 31.1% PNL - 19.9% UDMR - 6.7%

Results

The results for the Chamber of Deputies for Constituencies no. 1 to no. 42

The results for the Chamber of Deputies for Constituency no. 43

The results for the Senate for Constituencies no. 1 to no. 42

The results for the Senate for Constituency no. 43

According to the official final results, the centre-left Alliance PSD+PC won 33.1% in the Chamber of Deputies, just ahead of the Democratic Liberal Party on 32.4%, with the National Liberal Party on 18.6% and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania on 6.2%. The alliance led by Social Democratic Party won 34.2% in the Senate, just ahead of the Democratic Liberal Party on 33.6%, with the National Liberal Party on 18.7% and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania on 6.4%.[6] Compared to the 2004 election, the Social Democratic Party-led alliance fell back a few percent in the national vote share. The Democratic Liberal Party and National Liberal Party had competed in the last election together as the Justice and Truth Alliance, but had split in April 2007. The Democratic Liberal Party made significant gains in 2008 to become the largest party in both houses, while the National Liberal Party made smaller gains. Support for the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania was largely unchanged. The Greater Romania Party obtained 13% of the national vote for the Chamber in 2004, but failed to make the 5% threshold for representation this year. Another nationalist party, the New Generation Party, again failed to cross the 5% threshold for representation.

Party		Chamber of Deputies				Senate
		Votes	%	Seats	+/–	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Alliance PSD+PC (PSD, PC)	2,279,449	33.1	114	–10	2,352,968	34.16	49	–6
	Democratic Liberal Party	2,228,860	32.4	115	+48	2,312,358	33.57	51	+22
	National Liberal Party	1,279,063	18.6	65	+5	1,291,029	18.74	28	+4
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	425,008	6.2	22	±0	440,449	6.39	9	–1
	Greater Romania Party	217,595	3.2	0	–21	245,930	3.57	0	–13
	New Generation Party	156,901	2.3	0	0	174,519	2.53	0	0
	Roma Party "Pro Europe"	44,037	0.6	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania	23,190	0.3	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania	22,393	0.3	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Green Ecologist Party	18,279	0.27	0	–	48,119	0.7	0	–
	Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs in Romania	15,373	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania	14,039	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Union of Armenians of Romania	13,829	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Democratic Union of Turkish-Muslim Tatars of Romania	11,868	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Association of Macedonians of Romania	11,814	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Union of Serbs of Romania	10,878	0.2	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Association of Italians of Romania	9,567	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Democratic Turkish Union of Romania	9,481	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Union of Ukrainians of Romania	9,338	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Community of the Lippovan Russians	9,203	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Union of Croatians of Romania	9,047	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Hellenic Union of Romania	8,875	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	League of Albanians of Romania	8,792	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Popular and Social Protection Party	8,388	0.1	0	–	10,805	0.16	0	–
	Union of Poles in Romania	7,670	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania	4,514	0.1	1	–	–	–	–	–
	Romanian Socialist Party	585	0.0	0	–	445	0.02	0	–
	National Democratic Christian Party	316	0.0	0	–	1,365	0.02	0	–
	Party of the European Romania	87	0.0	0	–	–	–	–	–
	Independents	28,355	0.4	–	–	10,068	0.1	0	0
Invalid/blank votes		352,077	–	–	–	350,816	–	–	–
Total		7,238,871	100	334	+2	7,238,871	100	137	0
Registered voters/turnout		18,464,274	39.2	–	–	18,464,274	39.2	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver[7] Central Election Office

Chamber of Deputies

↓

115	110		18	22	65
PDL	PSD				PNL

Senate

↓

51	48		9	28
PDL	PSD			PNL

Aftermath

Government formation

Second Prime Minister Designate, Emil Boc speaking.

It was expected that a grand coalition of the Social Democrats and the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) would be formed. Initially the Prime Minister-designate was Theodor Stolojan, the PDL's official candidate.[8] He was designated Prime Minister by the President Traian Băsescu on 11 December 2008, the official decree being issued and printed in the Monitorul Oficial the next day.

On 15 December 2008, four days after his nomination, and one day after the coalition protocol was signed, Stolojan announced that he had resigned from the position of Prime Minister-designate, without giving any reason.[9] The same day, Băsescu signed a decree that nominated the Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and PDL president Emil Boc.[10]

Boc's coalition government with the Social Democrats was approved by parliament in a 324–115 vote and was sworn in on 22 December 2008.[11][12] Mircea Geoana of the Social Democrats became the new head of the Senate, with Roberta Alma Anastase of the PDL as the new President of the Chamber of Deputies.[13]

By-elections

At the start of the 2008–2012 parliamentary term, only parties that had won seats in the 2008 elections were eligible to contest parliamentary by-elections. However, this changed in 2011, after which all parties were allowed to propose candidates. The change came after repeated contests to the Constitutional Court of Romania of former 2009 presidential candidate Remus Cernea.

Following the nomination of Bogdan Olteanu to the Council of Administration of the National Bank of Romania as Deputy Governor, the first by-election of the parliamentary term took place in Bucharest constituency 1 will be held the first by-election of this legislature. The election was held on 17 January 2010 and was a contest between Radu Stroe of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and Honorius Prigoană, representing the PDL. The Social Democrats decided not to propose a candidate and to support the PNL candidate. Stroe was subsequently elected.

Daniela Popa resigned from the Chamber of Deputies to take office as President of the Insurance Supervising Committee, also stepping down as president of the Conservative Party.[14] The PNL decided not to have its own candidate, but to support the PSD+PC candidate, based on the gentlemen's agreement for the Bucharest by-election. The PSD nominated Conservative Party member and former Romanian Lottery director Liliana Mincă, with the PDL putting forward former TV show host Teo Trandafir, who went on to win.

Following the death of Ioan Timiş, Deputy for Hunedoara County constituency 3, a by-election took place on 28 November 2010. All parties nominated candidates, with former Minister of Labour, Mariana Câmpeanu of the PNL winning.

In January 2011, the representative of the Macedonians in Romania, Liana Dumitrescu, died. As she was a representative of a national minority, her seat had no college. As a result, her seat was left empty.

In April 2011 Victor Surdu died, vacating his seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Neamț County constituency 6. The by-election was held on 21 August 2011 and won by the PDL candidate, Adrian Rădulescu, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Agriculture.

In May 2011, Cătălin Cherecheș was elected Mayor of Baia Mare, automatically vacating her seat in the Chamber of Deputies, Maramureș County constituency 2. The by-election on 21 August saw Florin Tătaru of the Social Liberal Union elected.

On 30 August 2011, Zoltán Pálfi died, vacacting Cluj County constituency 9.

 Summary of the Romanian legislative by-election results for the 2008 - 2012 legislature (LIII)

Date	College - Constituency	Candidates		Parties and alliances	Votes	%
17 January 2010	CD 1-42		Radu Stroe	National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal)	7,625	70.17%
			Honorius Prigoană	Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat-Liberal)	3,242	29.83%
	Total valid votes (40,583 expected voters) (turnout 27.12% - 11,006)				10,867	100.00%
	Source: Biroul Electoral Municipal
25 April 2010	CD 19-42		Teo Trandafir	Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat-Liberal)		53.59%
			Liliana Mincă	PSD+PC Electoral Alliance (Alianţa Electorală PSD+PC)		46.41%
	Total valid votes (103,204 expected voters) (turnout 14.84%)				15,093	100.00%
	Source: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă
28 November 2010	CD 3-22		Mariana Câmpeanu	National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal)	8,738	34.86%
			Daniel Răducanu	Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat-Liberal)	7,339	29.28%
			Ţoloaș Liliana	PSD+PC Electoral Alliance (Alianţa Electorală PSD+PC)	5,218	20.81%
			Nicolae Timiș	Independent	2,683	10.70%
			Bela Fülöp	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România)	438	1.75%
			Remus Cernea	Independent	269	1.07%
			Mircea Părăian	New Generation Party – Christian Democratic (Partidul Noua Generaţie - Creştin Democrat)	197	0.78%
			Iosif Danci	Christian-Democratic National Peasants' Party (Partidul Naţional Ţărănesc Creştin Democrat)	187	0.75%
	Total valid votes (53,222 expected voters) (turnout 48.41% - 25,763)				25,069	100.00%
	Source: Autoritatea Electorală Permanentă
21 August 2011	CD 6-29		Adrian Rădulescu	Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat-Liberal)	17,186	54.95%
			Liviu Harbuz	Social-Liberal Union (Uniunea Social Liberală)	14,089	45.05%
	Total valid votes (57,996 expected voters) (turnout 53.93% - 32,184)				31,275	100.00%
	Source: Autoritatea Electorala Permanenta
	CD 2-26		Florin Tătaru	Social-Liberal Union (Uniunea Social Liberală)	9,433	42.67%
			Mariana Pop	Democratic Liberal Party (Partidul Democrat-Liberal)	7,845	35.48%
			Mircea Dolha	Ecologist Party of Romania (Partidul Ecologist Român)	4,338	19.62%
			Felician Horzsa	Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare)	493	2.23%
	Total valid votes (79,241 expected voters) (turnout 27,90% - 22,478)				22,109	100.00%
	Source: Biroul Electoral Judeţean

References

1. (in Romanian) Antena 3 coverage of the subject
2. (in Romanian) Antena 3 - Stolojan accepted unanimously
3. "Romania to hold elections on November 30th". SETimes.com. 28 August 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
4. (in Romanian) Simulation of the algorithm using an imaginary county Archived 2008-12-17 at the Wayback Machine
5. Agentia Nationala de Presa AGERPRES Archived 2008-12-10 at the Wayback Machine
7. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1606-1613 ISBN 9783832956097
8. "Allgemeine Deutsche Zeitung für Rumänien" (in Romanian). Adz.ro. Archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
9. "Antena 3" (in Romanian). Antena3.ro. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
10. "Emil Boc nominated new Romanian PM". euronews. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2009.
11. "Boc Government OK'd by Parliament, with 324 votes in favor and 115 against". Financiarul. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
12. Radu Marinas and Luiza Ilie (22 December 2008). "Romania centre-left gov't sworn in to tackle crisis". Forbes. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
13. "Romania's PM designate pledges to cut spending". AP (via Google News). 22 December 2008. Retrieved 23 December 2008.
14. "Jurnalul Naţional". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2010.