This article is part of theHistory of Romania series. |
Dacia |
Romania in the Middle Ages |
National awakening of Romania |
Kingdom of Romania |
Romania during World War II |
Communist Romania |
Romania since 1989 |
After the collapse of communism in the rest of Eastern Europe in the late summer and fall of 1989, a mid-December protest in Timişoara against the forced relocation of a Hungarian minister grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceauşescu regime, sweeping the dictator from power. Ion Iliescu took over as president on December 22nd. Ceauşescu was immediately arrested, and after a quick trial, he and his wife were executed on December 25th. About 1,500 people were killed in confused street fighting. An impromptu governing coalition, the National Salvation Front (FSN), installed itself and proclaimed the restoration of democracy and freedom. The Communist Party was outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were repealed.
Presidential and parliamentary elections were held on May 20, 1990. Running against representatives of the pre-war National Peasants' Party and National Liberal Party, Iliescu won 85% of the vote. The NSF captured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, named a university professor, Petre Roman, as Prime Minister, and began cautious free market reforms.
| Present-day Romania |
The new government made a crucial early misstep. Unhappy at the continued political and economic influence of members of the Ceauşescu-era elite, anti-communist protesters camped in University Square in April 1990. When miners from the Jiu Valley descended on Bucharest two months later and brutally dispersed the remaining "hooligans," President Iliescu expressed public thanks, thus convincing many that the government had sponsored the miners' actions. The miners also attacked the headquarters and houses of opposition leaders. The 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.
Parliament drafted a new democratic constitution, approved by popular referendum in December 1991. The FSN split into two groups, led by Ion Iliescu (FDSN) and Petre Roman (FSN) in March 1992; Roman's party subsequently adopted the name Democrat Party (PD). National elections in September 1992 returned President Iliescu by a clear majority, and gave his party, the FDSN, a plurality. With parliamentary support from the nationalist PUNR and PRM parties, and the ex-communist PSM party, a technocratic government was formed in November 1992 under Prime Minister Nicolae Văcăroiu, an economist. The FDSN became the Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) in July 1993. The Vacaroiu government ruled in coalition with three smaller parties, all of which abandoned the coalition by the time of the November 1996 elections. Emil Constantinescu of the Democrat Convention (CDR) electoral coalition defeated President Iliescu in the second round of voting by 9% and replaced him as chief of state. The PDSR won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but the constituent parties of the CDR joined the Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) to form a centrist coalition government, holding 60% of the seats in Parliament. Victor Ciorbea was named Prime Minister. Ciorbea remained in office until March 1998, when he was replaced by Radu Vasile (PNTCD).
In 2002, Romania was invited to join NATO. In the same year, EU confirmed its strong support for Romania's goal to join the union in 2007. Still, much economic restructuring remains to be carried out before Romania can achieve this goal.
Iliescu and former communists have dominated the government until 1996 and since 2000.
