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The Conservative Party (, PC) was a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
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 ...
. It was founded in 1991, approximately two years after the fall of Communism in Romania, originally under the name Romanian Humanist Party (, PUR). From 2005 until 3 December 2006, the party was a junior member of the
Government of Romania The Government of Romania () forms one half of the executive branch of the government of Romania (the other half being the office of the President of Romania). It is headed by the Prime Minister of Romania, and consists of the ministries, variou ...
. The party adopted the name ''Conservative Party'' on 7 May 2005. Subsequently, a little bit more than a decade after, more specifically in June 2015, it merged with the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) to form the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE). The Conservative Party (PC) stated that it promoted tradition, family, social solidarity,
European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...
, and a
nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...
without chauvinism. It claimed the heritage of the historical Romanian Conservative Party, one of the two main political forces in Romania before the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. There was no direct, uninterrupted link between the two parties—the historical Conservative Party was dissolved after World War I—but the modern party sustained and embraced the values of the historical one.


History

The Conservative Party was founded as the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR) on 18 December 1991 and was for a time a member of the Humanist International. It changed its name in 2005 to reflect a shift in its ideology from
centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...
politics to more conservative,
right-wing politics Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...
. The party was founded by former well known
Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...
a collaborator and informer
Dan Voiculescu Dan Voiculescu (; born September 25, 1946), also known as ''"Varanul"'', lit. 'the Monitor lizard', or "Felix Voiculescu", is a Romanian politician and businessman. He is the founder and former president of the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR), la ...
, a post-1989 wealthy businessman who formally gave control of his companies to relatives. Voiculescu was the founder and former owner of an important
media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
chain comprising among others the top-ranking TV channel Antena 1 and the newspapers '' Jurnalul Naţional'' and ''
Gazeta Sporturilor Gazeta Sporturilor () is a Romanian sports website, originally founded in 1924 as a daily newspaper. It was the third-oldest daily newspaper in Europe, with 99 years of uninterrupted publication, before issuing its last edition on 31 October 2023. ...
''. According to CNA (the state agency for broadcast licensing), he retains significant influence in the Romanian mass media, either through his foundation or through his family. The party generally supported the interests of the Romanian
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
and especially those of small and middle-size business owners, and performed better electorally at a local level than at a national level. The PUR formed a coalition with the PDSR (now 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 ...
), which won the 2000 general election. The PUR took part in the government under the condition of having the opportunity to promote the interests of its electorate. A Ministry for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises was thus formed, under the leadership of a PUR representative. After two years, the senior partner of the coalition, the PDSR, decided to suppress this Ministry, and consequently the PUR withdrew from the government. In the local elections of June 2004, the PUR obtained 6% of the votes and, among others, managed to win in one important city,
Bacău Bacău ( ; , ; ; ) is the main city in Bacău County, Romania. With a population of 136,087 (as of 2021 census), Bacău is the 14th largest city in Romania. The city is situated in the historical region of Moldavia, at the foothills of the ...
. During this election, the party strongly attacked the PSD and its alleged system of "local barons". After the surprising alliance of PUR with PSD, Romeo Stavarache, the mayor of Bacău, switched to the National Liberal Party (PNL) after a disagreement with Voiculescu, saying that he found it impossible to cooperate with the "local barons" he had struggled to defeat. In the 2004 parliamentary election the PUR again formed an electoral alliance with the PSD. This was a surprising move, as the PUR had strongly attacked the PSD in the June local elections. However, it ensured that the PUR would be able to enter the parliament on the coattails of the much larger party. The elections gave a slight parliamentary plurality to the PSD-PUR coalition, while the new president
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, ...
came from the other major competing coalition, the
Justice and Truth Alliance The Justice and Truth Alliance (originally in ; or D.A. for short, meaning "yes" in Romanian) was a political alliance comprising two political parties in Romania, namely the centre-right liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the initially l ...
(DA), formed by the PNL and Democratic Party (PD). This situation threatened a major political crisis, the President being unwilling to appoint a prime minister from the slightly larger parliamentary bloc, and the DA candidate for prime minister liable not to be ratified by the Parliament, which would have resulted in new parliamentary elections. Although initial talks assured the support of PUR for the Justice and Truth, without them joining the government, the election of PSD members
Adrian Năstase Adrian Năstase (; born 22 June 1950) is a Romanian jurist, academic/professor, blogger, and former politician who served as the prime minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004. He competed in the 2004 Romanian presidential elect ...
and
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 ...
as Heads of Chambers in the Romanian Parliament, prompted the members of DA to invite PUR to join the government. Although he had been the main advocate of this solution and had strongly pleaded for it, president Băsescu later qualified the solution as "immoral". In return, the conservatives labelled the President as a "hypocrite".http://www.adevarulonline.ro/arhiva/2005/Septembrie/1203/150923/ Voiculescu has admitted having been a collaborator with the
Securitate The Department of State Security (), commonly known as the Securitate (, ), was the secret police agency of the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was founded on 30 August 1948 from the '' Siguranța'' with help and direction from the Soviet MG ...
, Romania's communist-era internal intelligence service, after information to this effect was released publicly by Romania's National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives. He has actively denied that his collaboration was harmful to any individual. He was initially named to be a Vice Premier in the government of Prime Minister of
Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania, prime minister of Romania from 2004 to 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...
but was ultimately not allowed to take the position because of his involvement with the former intelligence service. On 7 May 2005 the party adopted the name ''Conservative Party'' to reflect a change of doctrine from centrism to a more conservative stance. However, its ideology remained fluid, since it supported certain leftist positions, such as increasing corporate taxation. In 2005, the party organised a march "for
family values Family values, sometimes referred to as familial values, are traditional or cultural values that pertain to the family's structure, function, roles, beliefs, attitudes, and ideals. Additionally, the concept of family values may be understood ...
" as a reaction to Bucharest Pride. The party was opposed to the legalisation of
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
, even though Octavian Petrovici, a vice-president of the party's Bucharest division, stated in 2006 that the party "respects the choice" of same-sex couples. The party also supported the introduction of compulsory religious education in Romanian schools (currently, such classes are optional). On 12 February 2006, the
Romanian National Unity Party The Romanian National Unity Party (, PUNR) was a nationalist political party in Romania between 1990 and 2006. History The PUNR was the first nationalist party in post-communist Romania, created in 1990, with Gheorghe Funar emerging as its leader ...
was absorbed into the Conservative Party. On 3 December 2006, the party quit the governing coalition and went into opposition. It continued to perform poorly in opinion polls and faced the prospect of being unlikely to enter parliament at the 2008 general election unless it entered into another pact with either the PSD or the PNL. On 17 April 2008, 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 the Conservative Party announced they would form a political alliance for the 2008 local election. In the 2008 legislative election, the Conservative Party also took part in an alliance with PSD, and won 1 seat in the Senate and 4 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Before that, the Conservatives had proposed an alliance with the
Greater Romania Party The Greater Romania Party (, PRM) is a Romanian far-right political party. Founded in May 1991 by Eugen Barbu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor, it was led by the latter from that point until his death in September 2015. The party is sometimes referred ...
(PRM). The PRM leader emphatically rejected the offer, as it was presumed that PRM would be absorbed by the Conservative Party. Similarly, the party ran in the 2009 European election in a coalition with the PSD, called
National Union PSD+PC National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
, and won 1 MEP seat ( George Sabin Cutaș). On 5 February 2011, the PC joined the
Social Liberal Union The Social Liberal Union (, USL) was a grand coalition of several political parties which was active in Romania during the early to mid 2010s. The alliance contained two major political parties, one major centre-left and one centre-right, more sp ...
(USL) along with the PSD and PNL. The USL dissolved on 25 February 2014 upon the exit of the PNL from the alliance. On 19 June 2015, the Conservative Party merged with the Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) to form the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) party.


Notable members

*
Dan Voiculescu Dan Voiculescu (; born September 25, 1946), also known as ''"Varanul"'', lit. 'the Monitor lizard', or "Felix Voiculescu", is a Romanian politician and businessman. He is the founder and former president of the Romanian Humanist Party (PUR), la ...
– founder and former president *
Codruț Șereș Ioan-Codruț Șereș (born 2 August 1969) is a Romanian engineer and politician. A member of the Conservative Party (Romania), Conservative Party (PC), he was a member of the Senate of Romania, Romanian Senate for Maramureș County from 2004 to 20 ...
* George Copos


Electoral history


Legislative elections

Notes: 1 National Union of the Centre (UNC) members: PDAR, MER, and PUR.
2 Social Democratic Pole of Romania members: PDSR (59 senators and 139 deputies), PSDR (2 senators and 10 deputies), and PUR (4 senators and 6 deputies).
3 National Union PSD+PUR members: PSD (46 senators and 113 deputies) and PUR (11 senators and 19 deputies).
4 Soon after the elections, PUR broke the alliance and switched sides, joining
Justice and Truth Alliance The Justice and Truth Alliance (originally in ; or D.A. for short, meaning "yes" in Romanian) was a political alliance comprising two political parties in Romania, namely the centre-right liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the initially l ...
(DA).

5
Alliance PSD+PC An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
members: PSD (48 senators and 110 deputies) and PC (1 senator and 4 deputies).

6
USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...
was an alliance of two smaller alliances: Centre Left Alliance (between PSD and UNPR) and Centre Right Alliance (between PNL and PC). Centre Left Alliance: PSD (58 senators and 149 deputies) and UNPR (5 senators and 10 deputies); Centre Right Alliance: PNL (51 senators and 101 deputies) and PC (8 senators and 13 deputies).

7 ALDE was created in June 2015 from a merger of PLR (a splinter of PNL) and PC.


Presidential elections

Notes: 1 Ion Iliescu was a member of PDSR, but endorsed by Social Democratic Pole of Romania (same acronym as the main party: PDSR), an alliance made of PDSR, PSDR, and PC. 2 Adrian Năstase was a member of PSD, but endorsed by National Union PSD+PUR, an alliance made of PSD and PC. 3 Victor Ponta was a member of PSD, but endorsed by an alliance made of PSD, UNPR, and PC.


European elections

Notes: 1
Alliance PSD+PC An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...
members: PSD (10 MEPs) and PC.
2 Social Democratic Union (USD) members: PSD (12 MEPs), PC, and UNPR (2 MEPs).


See also


Notes


External links


Conservative Party
official site ''Evenimentul Zilei'' article on PUR
-> {{Romanian topics Conservative parties in Romania Political parties established in 1991 1991 establishments in Romania National conservative parties Humanist Party