The Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy (, FDUS) was a

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

from 1968 to 1989, dominated by the

Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...

(PCR). It was ''de facto'' the only legally permitted political organization in the country for the last two decades of Communist rule.

History

The alliance was formed in 1968 as the Front of Socialist Unity (''Frontul Unității Socialiste'', FUS), and renamed the Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy in 1980. It brought together all legal political parties in the country,Romania: Elections held in 1980
IPU replacing the People's Democratic Front. Like its predecessor, it was organised and directed by the PCR. The minor parties in the front were completely subservient to the PCR, and had to accept its "leading role" as a condition of their continued existence.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

& Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1604–1605 No prospective candidate could run for office without the Front's approval, which in effect allowed the Front and, through it, the PCR to predetermine the composition of the legislature.

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, who served as general secretary of the PCR and President of Romania, was also the chairman of the Front.Electoral system
''Romania: A country study.''

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

Federal Research Division, December 1989. Voters were presented with a single list of FUS/FDUS candidates in every election between

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

and

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

, with the option to choose all or part of the list or reject it entirely. The Front therefore won all seats in the Great National Assembly in every election, claiming to have received at least 97 percent each time. Each time, fewer than 400,000 people either rejected the list outright, spoiled their papers, or cast blank ballots. After the Constitution was amended to create an

executive presidency An executive president is the head of state who exercises authority over the governance of that state, and can be found in presidential, semi-presidential, and parliamentary systems. They contrast with figurehead presidents, common in most parlia ...

, the FDUS recommended the presidential candidate in tandem with the Communist Party's Central Committee.

Election results

Great National Assembly

References

{{Authority control Popular fronts of communist states Defunct political party alliances in Romania Political parties established in 1968 1968 establishments in Romania Political parties disestablished in 1989 1989 disestablishments in Romania Romanian Communist Party Dictatorship of the proletariat

History

Election results

Great National Assembly

See also

References