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 represented the Fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. 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. On December 22, Ceauşescu had his apparatus gathered a crowd in Bucharest, intending an evocation of the 1968 demonstration of support for his stand against Soviet invasion of Prague. Instead, the crowd turned angry and street fighting broke out. Confused street fightind in Romania in those weeks killed about 1,000 people. Ion Iliescu took over as president December 22 and emerged as the leader of the uprising. Ceauşescu was arrested in Târgoviste, and after a trial by a kangaroo court, he and his wife were executed December 25. 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Communist Party was outlawed, and Ceauşescu's most unpopular measures, such as bans on abortion and contraception, were repealed. (See Romanian Revolution of 1989.)

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 FSN captured two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, named a university professor, Petre Roman, as Prime Minister, and began cautious free market reforms.

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, an incident known as the mineriad, 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. This period coincided with 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) electoral coalition defeated President Iliescu in the second round of voting by 9% and replaced him as chief of state. (see: Romanian election, 1996)

The PDSR won the largest number of seats in Parliament, but the 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. Victor Ciorbea was named Prime Minister. Ciorbea remained in office until March 1998, when he was replaced by Radu Vasile (PNTCD), then by the National Bank's governor, Mugur Isarescu.

This coalition made out of several parties proved not to be a very good idea, as decisions were often delayed due to the long periods negotiations, but anyway, several critical reforms were made.

2000 - 2004

In the 2000 elections, the ruling coalition lost the power to the PSD and Ion Iliescu's former communists. Adrian Nastase became the Prime Minister of the government that was shaken by several corruption charges in 2003.

Romania joined NATO in 2004. The EU has 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.

Presidential and parlamentary elections took place on November 28, 2004. The opposition and election observers claimed that there had been large-scale fraud both in the voting and the counting.

The results of the parliamentary election were indecisive, making it unlikely that any stable governing coalition could be formed. The presidential election went to a second round on December 12, 2004 between the PSD's Adrian Năstase and Traian Băsescu, the joint candidate of the PD and PNL. Băsescu won narrowly, with 51% of the vote.

ro:România începând cu 1989