PRO Romania (, PRO) is an extra-parliamentary
social liberal 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 ...
.
History
The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime Minister
Victor Ponta, former
acting/ad interim Prime Minister and Minister of Education
Sorin Cîmpeanu, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Climate Change
Daniel Constantin. The party was formally established on 20 February 2018 in
Bucharest
Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
Corina Crețu,
European Commissioner for Regional Policy, announced on 17 January 2019 that she would be a candidate in the
European Parliament election on behalf of PRO Romania. She would be at the second position in the list after Victor Ponta.
Four days later, senator and former
Minister of National Defence Adrian Țuțuianu announced that he joined the party, becoming the first senator to join PRO Romania.
In 2019, PRO Romania was represented in the
Romanian Parliament by 20
deputies and 1
senator
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
and in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
by 2
MEPs.
The party joined the European political party
European Democratic Party (EDP) in February 2019. However, its MEPs sit in the
Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PES) and not in the
Renew Europe group.
In 2020, the
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) merged into PRO Romania, and the expanded party has renamed itself ''PRO Romania Social-Liberal'' ().
Nevertheless, on 26 January 2021, the executive bureau of PRO Romania met to stop the merger procedure between the party and ALDE, thereby formally ceasing the union between the two parties.
In October 2022, the party became an observer member of the
Party of European Socialists (PES).
Members
Since its establishment, many high-profile former members of PSD or ALDE
have joined PRO Romania, including:
*
Nicolae Bănicioiu - member of 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 ...
and former Minister of Health;
*
Ioana Petrescu - former Minister of Finance;
*
Augustin Jianu - former Minister of Communications and Information Society;
*
Mircea Dobre - member of 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 ...
and former Minister of Tourism;
*
Gabriela Podașcă,
Cătălin Nechifor,
Mircea Banias,
Emilia Meiroșu,
Mihaela Huncă,
Eugen Durbacă,
Alin Văcaru, Adrian Pau - members of 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 ...
;
*
Răzvan Cotovelea - former Minister of Communications and Information Society;
*
Adrian Țuțuianu - senator and former Minister of National Defence.
Electoral history
Legislative elections
Notes:
1 The MPs were elected on PSD's and ALDE's lists.
Local elections
Presidential elections
Notes:
1 Mircea Diaconu was the candidate of the "One Man" () alliance; The alliance's members were PRO Romania and ALDE.
European elections
References
External links
Official website
{{Romanian topics
2018 establishments in Romania
European Democratic Party
Liberal parties in Romania
Political parties established in 2018
Registered political parties in Romania
Social liberal parties