History of Romania since 1989

Part of the series History of Romania
Dacia
The Middle Ages
National awakening
Kingdom of Romania
World War II
Communist Romania
Romania since 1989

1989 marked the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timişoara against the eviction of a Hungarian minister (László Tőkés) grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceauşescu regime, sweeping the dictator from power. On December 22, Ceauşescu had his apparatus gather a mass-meeting in Bucharest downtown, in an attempt to rally popular support for his regime and publicly condemn the mass protests of Timişoara mirroring the mass-meeting gathered in 1968 when Ceausescu had spoken against the invasion of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Treaty countries. This time however, the people turned angry and riot broke out. During the events of the following week, marked by confusion and street fighting, up to 1,000 people lost their lives, according to some sources. However, the real number of casualties is unknown. Ion Iliescu emerged as the leader of the uprising. Ceauşescu was arrested in Târgoviste, and after a summary trial by a kangaroo court, he and his wife were executed on December 25. An impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN), under Iliescu's leadership, seized power and pledged to restore democracy and freedom. The Communist Party was outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were rolled back. (See Romanian Revolution of 1989.)

The National Salvation Front took advantage of its exclusive control over the scarce media outlets of the time (such as the national radio and television), and the partially preserved Communist Party infrastructure in the territory, in order to launch propaganda attacks against the representatives of the democratic opposition, the National Peasants' Party and National Liberal Party, which at the time were struggling to reemerge on the political scene after more than 50 years in the underground. Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on May 20, 1990. Iliescu won 85% of the popular vote and thus became the first democratically elected president of Romania. The FSN secured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament. Petre Roman, a professor at the Technical University of Bucharest and a person with strong family roots in the Communist Party, was named Prime Minister. The new government, largely comprised of former communist officials, began implementation of some free market reforms.

Dissatisfied with the continued political and economic influence of members of the Ceauşescu-era elite, anti-communist protesters organized a mass-rally in the University Square in April 1990. To the dismay of the new regime, the protesters refused to disperse and turned the rally into an around-the-clock peaceful demonstration for several weeks. At Iliescu's request, thousands of miners from the Jiu Valley descended on Bucharest, under the command of their trade union leader Miron Cozma. This incident went into history under the name of mineriad. Using wood clubs, axes and other make-shift weapons, the miners violently cleared the University Square, bestially beating anyone who happened to cross their way in the process. After accomplishing this initial task, they shifted their attention and destructive energy towards the headquarters of the opposition parties as well as the private residences of the opposition leaders. President Iliescu publicly thanked the miners for their help with restoring the order in Bucharest. The Petre Roman government fell in late September 1991, when the miners returned to Bucharest to demand higher salaries and better living conditions. A technocrat, Theodor Stolojan, was appointed to head an interim government until new elections could be held.

In December 1991, a new constitution was drafted and subsequently adopted, after a popular referendum. March 1992 marked the split of the FSN into two groups: the Democratic National Salvation Front, led by Ion Iliescu (FDSN) and the Democrat Party (PD), led by Petre Roman. Iliescu won the presidential elections in September 1992 by a clear margin, and his party, the FDSN, won the general elections held at the same time. With parliamentary support from the nationalist PUNR (National Unity Party of Romanians), PRM (Greater Romania Party) , and the ex-communist PSM (Socialist Workers' Party), a new government was formed in November 1992 under Prime Minister Nicolae Văcăroiu, an economist and former Communist Party official. The FDSN changed its name to Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) in July 1993. The Văcăroiu government ruled in coalition with three smaller parties. This coalition dissolved before the November 1996 elections. This coincided with the bankruptcy of the Caritas pyramid scheme, a major scandal at the time in Romania.

1996 - 2000

Emil Constantinescu of the Democrat Convention of Romania (CDR) won the second round of the 1996 presidential elections by a comfortable margin of 9% and thus replaced Iliescu as chief of state. (see: Romanian election, 1996)

PDSR won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but was unable to form a viable coalition. Constituent parties of the CDR joined the Democratic Party (PD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) to form a centrist coalition government, holding 60% of the seats in Parliament. This coalition of sorts frequently struggled for survival, as decisions were often delayed by long periods of negotiations among the involved parties. Nevertheless, this coalition was able to implement several critical reforms. The new coalition government, under prime minister Victor Ciorbea remained in office until March 1998, when Radu Vasile (PNTCD) took over as prime minister. Former National Bank's governor, Mugur Isărescu eventually replaced Radu Vasile as head of the government.

2000 - 2005

The 2000 elections, brought Iliescu's PSD (Social Democratic Party) - meanwhile, Iliescu's party had changed its name again from PDSR to PSD - back to power and Iliescu himself won a third term as the country's president. Adrian Năstase became the Prime Minister of the newly formed government. His rule was shaken by recurring allegations of corruption.

Presidential and parliamentary elections took place again on November 28, 2004. No political party was able to secure a viable parliamentary majority, amidst accusations from international observers and opposition parties alike, that PSD had committed large-scale electoral fraud. There was no winner in the first round of the presidential elections. Finally, the joint PNL-PD candidate, Traian Băsescu, won the second round on December 12, 2004 with 51% of the vote and thus became the third post-revolutionary president of Romania. The PNL leader, Călin Popescu Tăriceanu was assigned the difficult task of building a coalition government under exclusion of PSD. In December 2004, the new coalition government (PD, PNL, PUR Romanian Humanist Party and UDMR), under prime minister Tăriceanu was sworn in.

Romania joined NATO in 2004, and the country is scheduled to join the European Union EU, alongside Bulgaria, in 2007. The EU accession treaty was signed on April 25, 2005 at Luxembourg. The treaty contains a safeguard clause, which allows delaying entry for a year, in case EU-standards are not met. The government faces two main challenges for the time left till EU-entry: eradication of the currently widespread corruption and reform of the judicial system.ro:România începând cu 1989