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A Change of Power in Romania: The Results and Significance of the November 1996 Elections

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2014

Liliana Popescu
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Extract

THE ELECTIONS IN ROMANIA IN NOVEMBER 1996 WERE A TURNINGpoint in the political life of the country. They resulted in the victory of the Democratic Convention (DCR) and its presidential candidate, Emil Constantinescu, over the party dominated by reformedcommunists (the Party of Social Democracy of Romania, PSDR) and its candidate, the former president, Ion Iliescu.

Professor Ghiţa Ionescu would have rejoiced in this long-awaited victory for the DCR. During his visit to Romania in 1993 he met many leading figures of the Democratic Convention, including Mr Constantinescu himself who, as Rector of the University of Bucharest, conferred upon him the doctorate honoris causa. He was also pleased to discover that one of his major books, Communism in Romania, had already been translated into Romanian (in 1992). Professor Ionescu was warmly welcomed and was particularly impressed by the enthusiasm of the young people, some of them academics, who were very actively engaged in the political struggle against the Iliescu regime.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Government and Opposition , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , April 1997 , pp. 172 - 186
Copyright
Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 1997

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References

1 The main political parties mentioned in this article (with abbreviations in brackets) are as follows: the Democratic Convention of Romania (DCR); the Party of Social Democracy of Romania (PSDR); the Social Democratic Union (SDU); the Magyars’Democratic Union (MDU); the Greater Romania Party (GRP); the National Unity Party (NUP) and the National Liberal Alliance (NLA).

2 Z. Ornea, Din istoria alegerilor din Romania, Dilema, Nov. 1996.

3 Jonathan Eyal—interview by the BBC after the parliamentary elections.

4 See also Rady, Martyn., Romania in Turmoil, A Contemporary History, Tauris, J. B. & Co Ltd, London/New York, 1992; and Alina Mungiu, Romunia dupa 89 (in Romanian), Bucharest, Humanitas, 1995Google Scholar.

5 King Michael of Romania lives with his family in Versoix, Switzerland. He was prevented repeatedly from returning to Romania by the authorities after his visit in April 1992 (when he was welcomed with a lot of enthusiasm by the people).

6 An election poster released by DCR showed a loaf of bread with the following simple text: ‘1990—3 lei, 1996—500 lei’(the Romanian currency).

7 In contrast, the number of the participant parties has decreased.

8 Sartori, Giovanni., Parties and Party Systems. A Framework for Analysis, Vol. 1, New York, Cambridge University Press, 1976 Google Scholar.

9 Adevarul, 13 September 1996.

10 Adevarul, 7 November, 1996.

11 22, No. 46, Nov. 1996, p.352.