Mircea Dușa (1 April 1955 – 19 December 2022) was a Romanian economist and politician, who was the

minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 6 August to 21 December 2012, and then Minister of National Defense from 21 December 2012 to 17 November 2015, both times in the cabinets of former Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

Life and career

Dușa was born to Romanian working-class parents in Toplița in the

Magyar Autonomous Region The Magyar Autonomous Region (1952–1960) (; ) and Mureș-Magyar Autonomous Region (1960–1968) were autonomous Regions of the People's Republic of Romania, regions in the Romanian People's Republic (later the Socialist Republic of Romania). H ...

during the Communist regime. He finished his secondary education in 1974 and for two years fulfilled his military service. In 1976, he returned to civilian life and became an official with the City People's Council in Toplița. In 1978 he joined the ranks of 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 ...

. He was elected to the board of his city in 1986 and held the position of vice president until 1990, after which he became vice mayor, and then mayor (1996–2000). In 1996 he joined 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 ...

and from 2001 to 2004 he was

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

Mureș County Mureș County (, , ) is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in the Historical regions of Romania, historical region of Transylvania, with the administrative centre in Târgu Mureș. The county was established in 1968, after the administrative reor ...

. In 2004 Dușa was elected to the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, as part of the

Harghita County Harghita County (, and , ) is a county () in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc. Demographics 2002 census In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a population density of ...

delegation. On 4 November 2015, Dușa was proposed as Prime Minister of the Interim Government after the resignation of Victor Ponta by the latter; however,

Romanian President 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 ...

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, ...

appointed Sorin Cîmpeanu, the Minister of National Education, as acting prime minister on the following day, instead of Dușa. Dușa died of cancer on 19 December 2022, at the age of 67. He was buried with military honors at Nazna Cemetery, in

Sâncraiu de Mureș Sâncraiu (''Kalotaszentkirály'' in Hungarian language, Hungarian) is a commune in Romania, commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. The commune is located in the western part of the county, just south of Huedin and from the county seat, ...

References

External links

* * 1955 births 2022 deaths People from Toplița University of Bucharest alumni Romanian Communist Party politicians Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians Mayors of places in Romania Prefects of Romania Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania) Ministers of defence of Romania Ministers of interior of Romania Deaths from cancer in Romania {{Romania-stub