Ecological Movement of Romania

The Ecological Movement of Romania (Romanian: Mișcarea Ecologistă din România, MER) was a political party in Romania.

History

Following the overthrow of the Communist regime, the MER was formed as a front for the post-Ceaușescu regime in an effort to attract the support of environmentalists.[1] It received 2.6% of the Chamber of Deputies vote in the 1990 general elections, winning 12 seats. It also received 2.6% of the Senate vote, winning one seat.[2]

In December 1990 the party joined the National Convention for the Establishment of Reform and Democracy, a coalition opposing the National Salvation Front government.[1] The collapse of the coalition in January 1992 led to the party failing to win a seat in the 1992 general elections;[1] although its vote share was reduced only marginally to 2.3% it lost all its seats.[3]

It contested the 1996 elections as part of the National Union of the Centre alliance, alongside the Romanian Democratic Agrarian Party and the Humanist Party. However, the alliance received only 0.9% of the vote, failing to win a seat.[4]

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Election	Chamber			Senate			Position	Aftermath
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1990	358,864	2.62	12 / 395	341,478	2.50	1 / 119	5th	Opposed the FSN government (until October 1991)
								Part of the governing coalition (after October 1991)
1992	243,740	2.25	0 / 341	231,401	2.11	0 / 143	10th	Extraparliamentary
1996	Part of the National Union of the Centre		0 / 341	118,859	0.97	0 / 143	16th	Extraparliamentary

References

1. John Barry & E. Gene Frankland (2002) International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics, Taylor & Francis, p139
2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1599–1600 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
3. 1992 Parliamentary Elections: Chamber of Deputies Archived June 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine University of Essex
4. 1996 Parliamentary Elections: Chamber of Deputies Archived June 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine University of Essex