National Liberal Party–Câmpeanu (; ) was a
national liberal
National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism).
A serie ...
,
conservative liberal
Conservative liberalism, also referred to as right-liberalism, is a variant of liberalism combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right wing of the liberal movement. In the case of modern con ...
, and
classical liberal
Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, eco ...
political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in
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 ...
which was established as a split-off from the main
National Liberal Party (PNL) during the mid 1990s by former first PNL re-founding president
Radu Câmpeanu
Radu-Anton Câmpeanu (; 28 February 1922 – 19 October 2016) was a Romanian politician who was also jurist and economist by profession, after graduating from the University of Bucharest (UB) in November 1945, specializing in constitutional righ ...
in the wake of the violent and bloody
1989 Romanian Revolution
The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent civil unrest in Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily within the Eastern Bloc. The Romanian revoluti ...
.
Radu Câmpeanu decided to leave the main PNL from several main reasons, among which, most notably, there were his presidency loss at the congress in 1993 in front of
Mircea Ionescu-Quintus (yet the former was elected vice-president of the party at the same congress nevertheless) and his reluctance and opposition towards the
Romanian Democratic Convention
The Romanian Democratic Convention (; abbreviated CDR) was an electoral alliance of several democratic, anti-communist, anti-totalitarian, and centre-right political parties in Romania, active from 1991 until 2000. The most prominent leaders o ...
(CDR) with respect to the incorporation of the
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania
The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (DAHR; , RMDSZ ; , UDMR) is a political party in Romania which aims to represent the significant Hungarian minority of Romania.
Officially considering itself a federation of minority interests ra ...
(UDMR/RMDSZ) on common lists for the
1992 general election.
PNL–C, the official abbreviation under which the political party was known, competed in the 1996 and 2000 Romanian general and local elections before being re-integrated in the main PNL through the process of absorption in 2003, one year before the
2004 general election. During both the late 1990s and early 2000s, the party failed to enter the parliament's afferent legislatures for those periods and consequently remained in extra-parliamentary opposition towards both the CDR and PDSR from 1996 until 2003.
History
PNL–C was founded in 1993 as a splinter from the main PNL by Radu Câmpeanu along with a devoted group of national liberal followers dissatisfied with the result of the 1993 PNL presidency congress. Between the mid 1990s and late 1990s, PNL–C refused to be a part of the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) and remained in extra-parliamentary opposition towards both the ''
Red Quadrilateral
The Red Quadrilateral () was a term used by the Romanian 1990s media to describe the political alliance that supported the Romanian government between the 1992 and 1996 legislative elections.
The 'Quadrilateral', informal at first, consisted of t ...
'' coalition headed by
FDSN Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Nicolae Văcăroiu
Nicolae Văcăroiu (; born 5 December 1943) is a Romanian politician, member of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD), who served as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister between 1992 and 1996. Before the Rom ...
and the subsequent CDR-led coalition successively headed by
Victor Ciorbea,
Radu Vasile, and
Mugur Isărescu
Constantin Mugur Isărescu (; born 1 August 1949) is the governor of the National Bank of Romania, a position he has been holding since September 1990, with the sole exception of a period of time of one year (22 December 1999 to 28 December 2000 ...
.
PNL–C contested the
1996 Romanian general election
General elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, with a second round of the presidential election on 17 November.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1591
Opinion polls prior to the electio ...
, the
1996 Romanian local elections, the
2000 Romanian general election
General elections were held in Romania on 26 November 2000, with a second round of the presidential election on 10 December. Former president Ion Iliescu of the Social Democracy Party of Romania (PDSR) was re-elected in the run-off, whilst the ...
, and the
2000 Romanian local elections, failing nevertheless to obtain significant political scores at any of the aforementioned election rounds.
In 1996, Radu Câmpeanu ran once again for president under the ''
National Liberal Ecologist Alliance'' () but obtained a very feeble 0.34% share of the total ballots cast back then (or, in absolute numbers, 43,780 votes).
During the early 2000s, the party still existed but had a minor role in the national
politics of Romania
Romania's political framework is a Semi-presidential republic, semi-presidential representative republic where the Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister is the head of government while the President of Romania, President, according to the C ...
, in the wake of both the
2000 Romanian general election
General elections were held in Romania on 26 November 2000, with a second round of the presidential election on 10 December. Former president Ion Iliescu of the Social Democracy Party of Romania (PDSR) was re-elected in the run-off, whilst the ...
and
2000 Romanian local elections. Subsequently, in 2003, PNL–C was absorbed by the main PNL which had been led up to that point in time by
Mircea Ionescu-Quintus.
Electoral history
Presidential elections
Legislative elections
Notes:
1 ANLE stands for the
National Liberal Ecologist Alliance () which was composed of PNL–C alongside the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice.
Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...
(PV) which was then known as the ''Green Alternative Ecologists' Party'' (). The ANLE obtained 86,359 votes for the Senate (or 0.70%) and 96,412 votes for the Chamber (or 0.79%) respectively.
Local elections
At the
1996 Romanian local elections, PNL–C won a very small number of only 15 mayoral mandates all across
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 ...
.
Likewise, for the
2000 Romanian local elections, PNL–C obtained modest electoral results.
See also
*
National Liberal Party (Republic of Moldova)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:National Liberal Party-Campeanu
Political history of Romania
National Liberal Party
Conservative parties in Romania
Liberal parties in Romania
1993 establishments in Romania
Political parties established in 1993
Defunct political parties in Romania