Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party

The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (Romanian: Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat, abbreviated PNȚ-CD) is a Christian democratic[2] and agrarian[3] political party in Romania. It claims to be the successor of the National Peasants' Party (created from the merger of the Romanian National Party from Transylvania and Peasants' Party). The party was excluded from the European People's Party (EPP) in June, 2017.[4] The party joined the European Christian Political Movement in February, 2020.[5]

For the Moldovan political party, see Christian-Democratic People's Party (Moldova).

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat
Leader	Aurelian Pavelescu
Founded	December 1989
Preceded by	National Peasants' Party
Headquarters	Bd. Carol I, nr. 24 Bucharest
Ideology	Christian democracy Agrarianism
Political position	Centre to centre-right
European affiliation	ECPM EPP (1987–2017)
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
European Parliament group	ECR group
Colours	Green and Blue
Senate	0 / 136
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 329
European Parliament (Romanian seats)	1 / 33
Mayors	3 / 3,186 [1]
County Councilors	0 / 1,434 [1]
Local Council Councilors	137 / 40,067 [1]
Website
www.pntcd.ro
Politics of Romania Political parties Elections

History

1989–1992

The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party was (re)-founded by Corneliu Coposu, Ioan Alexandru, and Ion Rațiu in December, 1989, being thus the first officially registered political party after the fall of Communism. The party competed in the 1990 elections, where it ranked 4th with 2.5% (or 348,637 votes) and supported Ion Rațiu for president. The PNȚ-CD presidential candidate ranked 3rd, with 4.3% (or 617,007 votes).

From left to right: Ion Diaconescu, Corneliu Coposu, and Ion Rațiu at a 1990 manifestation held in Bucharest

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 PNȚ-CD 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 (but also with other noteworthy civic organisations, foundations, and minor additional right-leaning political parties), the PNȚ-CD formed the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR).

Eventually, the PNȚ-CD would affirm itself as the most dominant internal political force for much of the convention's existence. For the period 1990–1992, PNȚ-CD 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 supported the candidacy of Emil Constantinescu as President of Romania. 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.

1996–2000

At the 1996 elections, CDR managed to rank 1st, with 30.70% (or 3,772,084 votes), and once again supported the candidacy of Emil Constantinescu, who also managed to win the presidency with 54.41% (or 7,057,906 votes). For the period 1996–2000, PNȚ-CD 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 Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR).

At the 2000 elections, PNȚ-CD 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, PNȚ-CD was in extra-parliamentary opposition.

2004–2008

Party headquarters in Bucharest (2014)

At the 2004 elections, PNȚ-CD ran independently, having scored 1.9% (or 196,027 votes), failing this time as well to surpass the electoral threshold. The party supported the presidential candidacy of Gheorghe Ciuhandu, former mayor of Timișoara. Ciuhandu ranked 5th, with 1.9% (or 198,394 votes).

In March, 2005, PNȚ-CD voted to change its name to the Christian Democratic People's Party (Partidul Popular Creștin-Democrat, PPCD) after the unification with the Union for Romanian Reconstruction. Eventually, it returned to its original name (PNȚ-CD). The party did not compete in the 2008 legislative elections.

Afterwards, the party was split between a wing sustained by Marian-Petre Miluț supporting Aurelian Pavelescu as president (who decided on an alliance with the then governing Democratic Liberal Party) and one supporting former Prime Minister and Bucharest mayor Victor Ciorbea as president (who, at that time, favoured an alliance with the National Liberal Party).[6]

2011–present

Victor Ciorbea was elected on June 18, 2011 president of the party. In September 2011 the Bucharest Courthouse (responsible for the parties registry) recognised Victor Ciorbea as party president.[7] 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 recognized as president and the fractions were dissolved.

For the 2012 legislative elections, PNȚ-CD ran on a common Right Romania Alliance (ARD), along with the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the Civic Force (FC). The party won one senator seat and one deputy seat. On April 23, 2013, Pavelescu was elected president of the party.

At the 2014 European Parliament election, the party only gained 0.89% of the vote,[8] with candidates like former EP member Sebastian Bodu and the current party president, Aurelian Pavelescu, opening the list.

Following the 2019 European Parliament election and thanks to an agreement between the party and Social Democratic Party, the party has 1 MEP: Cristian Terheș.[9]

Motto

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

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Election	Chamber			Senate			Position	Aftermath
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1990	351,357	2.56	12 / 395	348,637	2.50	1 / 119	4th	Opposition to FSN government (until October 1991)
							Opposition to FSN-PNL-MER-PDAR government
1992	2,117,144	19.46	41 / 341	2,210,722	20.16	21 / 143	2nd  (as CDR)^1	Opposition to PDSR-PUNR-PRM government
1996	3,692,321	30.17	81 / 343	3,772,084	30.70	25 / 143	1st  (within CDR)^2	CDR-USD-UDMR
2000	546,135	5.04	0 / 345	575,706	5.29	0 / 140	6th  (as CDR 2000)^3	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PDSR minority government
2004	188,268	1.85	0 / 332	196,027	1.90	0 / 137	6th	Extra-parliamentary support to DA-PUR-UDMR government (until April 2007)
							Extra-parliamentary support to PNL-UDMR minority government
2008	did not compete^4		0 / 334	did not compete^4		1 / 137	-	Opposition to PDL-PSD government (until December 2009)
	Opposition to PDL-UNPR-UDMR (until May 2012)
	Opposition to USL government (until December 2012)
2012	1,223,189	16.51	1 / 412	1,239,318	16.71	1 / 176	2nd  (as ARD)^5	Opposition to USL government (until March 2014)
							Opposition to PSD-UNPR-UDMR-PC government (until December 2014)
							Opposition to PSD-UNPR-ALDE government (until November 2015)
							Supporting Cioloș Cabinet (Ind.)
2016	did not compete	Extra-parliamentary support to PSD-ALDE government (until August 2019)
	Extra-parliamentary support to PSD minority government (until November 2019)
	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PNL minority government

Notes:

¹ CDR members in 1992: PNȚCD, PAC (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 (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 (3 senators and 3 deputies), PER (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 ballots.
⁵ Right Romania Alliance members: PDL (22 senators and 52 deputies), FC (1 senators and 3 deputies) and PNȚCD.

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	First round			Second round
		Votes	Percentage	Position	Votes	Percentage	Position
1990	Ion Rațiu	617,007	4.3%	3rd
1992	Emil Constantinescu^1	3,717,006	31.1%	2nd	4,641,207	38.6%	2nd
1996	Emil Constantinescu^1	3,569,941	28.2%	2nd	7,057,906	54.4%	1st
2000	Mugur Isărescu^2	1,069,463	9.5%	4th
2004	Gheorghe Ciuhandu	198,394	1.9%	5th
2009	did not compete^3
2014	Elena Udrea^4	493,376	5.2%	4th
2019	did not compete^5

Notes:

¹ Emil Constantinescu was the common centre-right candidate that was endorsed by the PNȚCD in both 1992 and 1996 as part of the larger Romanian Democratic Convention (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, the candidate of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), due to a decision enforced by the then official fraction of the PNȚCD led by Marian Petre Miluț.
⁴ Elena Udrea was endorsed by the People's Movement Party (PMP)-PNȚCD alliance at the 2014 Romanian presidential elections.
⁵ Electoral protocol endorsing Viorica Dăncilă, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

European elections

Election	Votes	Percentage	MEPs	Position	EU Party	EP Group
2007	71,001	1.38%	0 / 35	11th	EPP	EPP Group
2009	70,428	1.45%	0 / 33	7th	EPP	EPP Group
2014	49,978	0.89%	0 / 32	12th	EPP	EPP Group
2019	did not compete^1

Notes:

¹ Electoral protocol endorsing the Social Democratic Party (PSD).

Presidents of the party

  Also served as Prime Minister

  Also served as Chamber President

Nº	Name Born - Died	Portrait	Term start	Term end	Duration
1	Corneliu Coposu (1914–1995)		1990	1995	5 years
2	Ion Diaconescu (1917–2011)		1995	2001	6 years
–	Constantin Dudu Ionescu (interim) (1954–		2001	2001	less than 1 year
3	Andrei Marga (1946–		2002	2002	less than 1 year
4	Victor Ciorbea (1954–		2002	2004	2 years
5	Gheorghe Ciuhandu (1947–		2004	2007	3 years
6	Marian Petre Miluț (1955–		2007	2011	4 years
7	Aurelian Pavelescu (1964–		2011	present	9 years to date

Notable members

Corneliu Coposu Ion Diaconescu Ion Puiu Constantin Ticu Dumitrescu Ioan Alexandru Ion Rațiu Gabriel Țepelea Ion Caramitru Victor Ciorbea Gheorghe Ciuhandu

Vasile Lupu Marian Petre Miluț Ioan Avram Mureșan Șerban Rădulescu Matei Boilă Radu Vasile Aurelian Pavelescu Leonida Lari Marian Munteanu Mircea Ciumara

References

1. http://www.2016bec.ro/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SIAL2016_Situatia_mandatelor_partide-2.xlsx
2. Bakke, Elisabeth (18 February 2010). "Central and East European party systems since 1989". In Ramet, Sabrina P. (ed.). Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989. Cambridge University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-1-139-48750-4.
3. Daniele Caramani (2013). The Europeanization of Politics. Cambridge University Press. p. 310. ISBN 978-1-107-11867-6.
4. "Primul partid românesc din PPE a fost EXCLUS! " A fost o EXECUŢIE în stil BOLŞEVIC"". 9 June 2017.
5. "PNTCD Romania becomes the newest member of ECPM". ECPM. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
6. Newsin, Radu Sârbu a fost reales președintele aripii anti-Miluț a PNȚCD. September 26, 2009. Accessed on September 27, 2009
7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-04. Retrieved 2012-09-08.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-05-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "PSD a pierdut un europarlamentar. Cristian Terheș a trecut la grupul extremiștilor din Parlamentul European". www.digi24.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-05-12.

Further reading

• Lavinia Stan, “From Riches to Rags: The Romanian National Christian Democrat Peasant Party,” East European Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 2 (Summer 2005), pp. 179–227.

External links

• Official site
• Official site of Cluj County Organization
• News about PNȚCD
• History of PNȚCD
• Past leaders of PNȚCD