Democratic Liberal Party (Romania)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Democratic Liberal Party (, PDL) was a
liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
political party in Romania. The party was formed on 15 December 2007, when the Democratic Party (PD) merged with the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD). On 17 November 2014 the PDL officially merged into the National Liberal Party (PNL), ceasing to exist. The PDL was associated with
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, ...
, who was previously leader of the PD and
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 ...
from 2004 to 2014.


History


Background

The PDL traces its roots in the National Salvation Front (FSN), the governing body which, under the leadership of
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
, seized power during the Romanian Revolution of 1989 which ended the previous 42 year-long Communist regime in Romania. Conflicts broke out between FSN leaders
Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...
and
Petre Roman Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his Third Roman cabinet, government was overthrown by the Mineriad, intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma ...
in early 1992, and this led to the separation of the Iliescu wing under the name of
Democratic National Salvation Front The Democratic National Salvation Front (, FDSN) was a Romanian political party formed by former President Ion Iliescu and his supporters stemming from the National Salvation Front (FSN) on 7 April 1992. It was the result of the breakup of the ...
(FDSN), which later became 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). In 1993, the FSN was renamed Democratic Party (PD) and distanced itself from its
social-democratic Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, socia ...
roots to gradually become a centre-right party, whose ideology was transmitted to the PDL. In advance of the 2004 general election, the PD joined forces with the National Liberal Party (PNL) to create the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), whose main purpose was to oppose the governing
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).


Foundation

From mid 2005, the PD's relations with the PNL also became strained. On 15 December 2007, the PD merged into the new Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) along with the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD), a splinter group from the PNL which was led by
Theodor Stolojan Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) be ...
. The PLD approved the merger in a party congress with 933 votes in favour, six abstentions, and one against. The PDL still kept the social-democratic rose as its symbol, as a memory of PD's left-wing past.


Government of Emil Boc (2008–2012) and Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu

At the 2008 legislative election, the PDL won the most seats in chambers and formed a new government coalition with the PSD. The two parties fell out in 2009 and the government was replaced by another one including the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) and the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR). Later, in 2012, due to massive street protests, Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned and president Traian Băsescu appointed the independent Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, former SIE commander, to form a new cabinet which was invested by a vote in Parliament in February 2012. After a two-month parliamentary protest, the opposition managed to pass a motion of no confidence on the 5 May 2012, sending the PDL in opposition. When the government fell, Traian Băsescu consulted the parliamentary parties and decided to nominate PSD leader
Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...
as Prime Minister.


2012 local elections

On 10 June 2012,
local elections Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...
were held in Romania. The PDL was able to win only two county council presidents (namely in the counties of Arad and
Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...
) and 10 major city mayors (Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Arad, Suceava, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Alba Iulia, Tulcea, Târgu Mureș, Piatra Neamț, and Târgoviște), which represented a crushing defeat, even if the party acquired 27% of Romania's mayors and almost 23% of the county and local councillors. Because of these results, the then president of PDL, Emil Boc, resigned and called for an early National Convention (congress) of the party, which was held on the 30 June 2012. The Convention elected Vasile Blaga to become the new party president of the PDL and Gheorghe Flutur as secretary-general.


2012 parliamentary elections

In the run to the parliamentary elections the PDL announced an alliance with the
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (, PNȚCD) is an agrarianism, agrarian and Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor of t ...
(PNȚ-CD) and Civic Force (FC) to form the Right Romania Alliance (ARD). The alliance was dissolved on 9 December 2013.


Breaking up with Băsescu

After Băsescu's break with the new president of PD-L, Vasile Blaga, his supporters created 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) in June 2013. Years later, 2020, Băsescu tried to rename PMP to Democratic-Liberal Party, but he couldn't get PNL's approval for this. Basescu joked, saying that "the followers of the Brătianu family should remain in the PNL, and
Petre Roman Petre Roman (; born 22 July 1946) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his Third Roman cabinet, government was overthrown by the Mineriad, intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma ...
's followers should come to the PMP, alluding to the FSN-related past of the PD-L.


2014 European elections

In the 2014 European elections, the PDL received 12.2% of the national vote and returned 5 MEPs.


Merger with the National Liberal Party (PNL)

In late May 2014, the party agreed in principle to a future merger with the National Liberal Party (PNL), and for the two parties to submit a joint candidate for the upcoming 2014 presidential election. On 17 July 2014 it was announced that the new party formed from a future merger of the PDL and PNL would keep the National Liberal Party name, while being situated in the PDL's existing headquarters in Bucharest and would be registered by the end of 2014. On 26 July 2014, a joint party congress of the PDL and PNL approved the merger. On 28 July 2014 the PDL and PNL formed the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL) to jointly contest the upcoming presidential election. In the first round of the 2014 presidential election held on 2 November 2014, ACL candidate
Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...
received 30.4% of the vote, coming in second place behind
Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...
, the PSD candidate and incumbent Prime Minister. In the runoff election held on 16 November 2014, Iohannis received 54.5% of the vote, becoming the surprise victory of the Romanian presidency.


Ideology

The PDL's ideology is influenced by
liberal conservatism Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
and
social conservatism Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on Tradition#In political and religious discourse, traditional social structures over Cultural pluralism, social pluralism. Social conservatives ...
. In this respect the party is a member of 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) and the
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 ...
(IDC–CDI). The PDL supports a consolidation of the free market and is supportive of Romania's flat-rate income tax of 16%. The party also supports reforming the Romanian Constitution in order to bring about a decentralisation in administration and give greater power to the country's eight development regions.


Founding deputies

Shortly before the 2008 legislative election the PDL had 69 deputies, of which * 38 had been elected on Democratic Party (PD) list: Cristian Rădulescu, Daniel Buda, Valentin Adrian Iliescu, Costică Canacheu, Gheorghe Albu, Gheorghe Barbu, Cornel Ștefan Bardan, Iulian-Gabriel Bîrsan, Anca-Daniela Boagiu, Ionela Bruchental-Pop, Diana Maria Bușoi, Anca Constantinescu, Radu-Cătălin Drăguș, Stelian Duțu, Elena Ehling, Stelian Fuia, Traian Constantin Igaș, Cristian Ilie, Radu Lambrino, Laurențiu Mironescu, Liviu Alexandru Miroșeanu, Alexandru Mocanu, Petru Movilă, Ioan Oltean, Constantin Petrea, Marcel Adrian Piteiu, Corneliu Popescu, Cezar Florin Preda, Ioan Dumitru Puchianu, Marius Rogin, Marcel Laurențiu Romanescu, Valentin Rusu, Petre Străchinaru, Valeriu Tabără, Eugen Constantin Uricec, Mihaela Adriana Vasil, Horia Văsioiu, Iulian Vladu * 14 had been elected on National Liberal Party (PNL) list: Marian Sorin Paveliu, Romică Andreica, Cristian Alexandru Boureanu, Dumitru Gheorghe Mircea Coșea, Marian Hoinaru, Mircea Teodor Iustian, Corneliu Momanu, Viorel Oancea, Dumitru Pardău, Gabriel Sandu, Cornel Știrbeț, Raluca Turcan, Petre Ungureanu, Claudius Mihail Zaharia * 10 had been elected on Greater Romania Party (PRM) list: Liviu Almășan, William Gabriel Brînză, Bogdan Cantaragiu, Petru Călian, Alexandru Ciocâlteu, Liviu Codîrlă, Daniel Ionescu, Dănuț Liga, Dumitru Puzdrea, Ion Stoica * 6 had been elected on Social Democratic Party (PSD) list: Constantin Amarie, Obuf Cătălin Ovidiu Buhăianu, Viorel Constantinescu, Petru Lificiu, Gheorghe Sârb, Constantin Tudor * 1 had been elected on Conservative Party (PC) list: Grațiela Denisa Iordache


Leadership of PDL


Notable members

* Vasile Blaga, party leader from 2012 to 2014, former Interior Minister; * Roberta Anastase, MP, President of the Chamber of Deputies; * Adrian Bădulescu, MP; *
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, ...
,
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 ...
, membership suspended during his term; * Radu Berceanu, Senator, former Transport Minister; * Anca Boagiu, former Minister of European Integration and Transport Minister; * Emil Boc, Mayor of
Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...
, party leader (2004–2012), Prime Minister (2008–2012); * Ioan Oltean, MP; * Elena Udrea, Minister of Tourism and Regional Development (2008–2012); * Radu Vasile, former Prime Minister; * Adriean Videanu, former
Mayor of Bucharest The mayor of Bucharest (), sometimes known as the general mayor, is the head of the Bucharest City Hall in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...
and Minister of Economy; * Monica Macovei, EMP and former Minister of Justice; * Sulfina Barbu, former Minister of Labour; *
Theodor Stolojan Theodor Dumitru Stolojan (; born 24 October 1943) is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from September 1991 to November 1992. An economist by training, he was also one of the presidents of the National Liberal Party (PNL) be ...
, EMP and former Prime Minister; * Raluca Turcan, Deputy Prime Minister of Romania; * Nicolae Ștefănuță, head of PD/PD-L's Department of European Politics and Affairs.


Electoral history


Legislative elections

Notes: 1 Right Romania Alliance members: PDL, FC (1 senator and 3 deputies), and PNȚ-CD (1 senator and 1 deputy).


Presidential elections

Notes: 1 Klaus Iohannis was a member of the PNL, but he was the candidate of the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL); alliance members: PNL and PDL.


European elections


Notes


References

* Steven D. Roper, ''Romania: The Unfinished Revolution'', Routledge, 2000, * Ioan, Scurtu ș.a., "Enciclopedia partidelor politice din România 1859-2003", Editura Meronia, București, 2003. * Florin-Vasile, Șomlea, "Partidele populare din țările Uniunii Europene", Editura Cartimpex, Cluj-Napoca, 2007.


External links

*
Democratic Liberal Party
– Official website {{Authority control 2008 establishments in Romania Political parties established in 2008 Christian democratic parties in Europe Eastern Orthodox political parties Liberal conservative parties Liberal parties in Romania Conservative parties in Romania Member parties of the European People's Party Neoliberal parties Political parties disestablished in 2014 National Liberal Party (Romania)