Romania PopuList Country Report

Party Overview

The column ‘status’ refers to whether the classification applies fully (●) or whether the party is a borderline case (◐).

Parties represented in parliament

The Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor (Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR) is a populist farright party founded in 2019 and led by George Simion. The party is irredentist, anti-minority, antiimmigration, social conservative, anti-LGBTQI+, and Eurosceptic. AUR has notably advocated the reunification of Romania and Moldova and stands for the union of all Romanian people (i.e. within and beyond state borders). The party entered parliament in 2020 with 9.1% of the vote, mostly thanks to the vote of the Romanian diaspora.

The Partidul Social Democrat (Social Democratic Party, PSD) was previously named National Salvation Front (FSN, 1990-1992), Democratic National Salvation Front (FSDN, 1992-1993), and Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PSDR, 1993-2001). The party qualified as populist and authoritarian between 1990 and 1996, when the PSDR started a process of ideological change culminating in the collaboration with major social-democratic international partners in 1999 and a mainstream turn with the election of Adrian Năstase to PM in 2000. The PSD was borderline populist between the chairmanship of Victor Ponta (2010) and the imprisonment of Liviu Dragnea (2019). Despite being nominally social democratic, the PSD is nationalist, economically liberal, socially conservative, and has at times expressed Eurosceptic views. The party peaked at 58.6% of the vote in 2012 under the leadership of Victor Ponta. The PSD returned 28.9% of the vote in the 2020 election and has been part of a grand coalition (National Coalition for Romania) since November 2021.

Parties not/no longer represented in parliament

The Partidul Mișcarea Populară (People’s Movement Party, PMP) is a populist party founded in 2014 by former president of Romania Traian Băsescu. The party is nationalist, social conservative, economically liberal, and pro-EU, and has progressively taken anti-immigration and anti-LGBTQI+ positions. The party returned 5.3% of the vote in the 2016 election, providing external support to the Liberal government between 2019 and 2020. The PMP shortly missed the threshold in the 2020 election, scoring 4.8% of the vote.

The Partidul Poporului – Dan Diaconescu (People’s Party – Dan Diaconescu, PP-DD) was founded in 2011 by TV host and media entrepreneur Dan Diaconescu shortly after his release from prison for a case of extortion. The party was left-wing nationalist and populist. The party was short-lived and marred by defections. The PP-DD gained 14.0% of the vote in the 2012 election and provided the organisational infrastructure for Diaconescu’s presidential bid in 2014. Upon eventual conviction of Diaconescu in 2015, the party merged into the National Union for the Progress of Romania in 2015.

The Partidul România Mare (Greater Romania Party, PRM) is a populist far-right party founded in 1991 by Corneliu Vadim Tudor. The party is irredentist and anti-minority, advocating the reconstitution of Romanian borders along those of the Kingdom of Romania and especially denouncing the Hungarian minority in Romania as a ‘fifth column’. The party is social conservative and Eurosceptic, and was originally nostalgic of Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist regime. The party gained its last parliamentary entry in 2004 (12.9% of the vote) and the party faded into electoral marginality thereafter.

The Partidul România Unită (United Romania Party, PRU) is a marginal far-right party founded in 2015. The party is extremist, anti-establishment, anti-minority, anti-immigration, social conservative, economically protectionist, anti-NATO, and hard Eurosceptic. The party scored 2.8% of the vote in the 2016 election.

The Partidul Socialist al Muncii (Socialist Party of Labour, PSM) was a far-left party founded in 1990 by Ilie Verdeț. The party was left-wing nationalist and included many non-reformist members of the Romanian Communist Party. The party scored 3.0% of the vote in the 1992 election and entered the government coalition led by the Democratic National Salvation Front. The party was dissolved in 2003.

The Partidul Socialist Democratic Român (Romanian Socialist Democratic Party, PSoDR) was a short-lived and marginal far-left party founded in 1990 by Marius Cîrciumaru. The party was democratic socialist and merged into the Democratic National Salvation Front in 1993. The Partidul Unităţii Naţionale a Românilor (Romanian National Unity Party, PUNR) was a populist far-right party founded in 1990 by Gheorghe Funar. The party was anti-minority and social conservative. The PUNR scored 7.7% of the vote in 1992 and was asked to join the government coalition led by the Democratic National Salvation Front and also including the far-right Greater Romania Party. The party obtained parliamentary representation for the last time in 1996 (4.2% of the vote) and was dissolved in 2006.