Romanian general election, 1996

Romanian general election

3 November 1996 17 November 1996

Nominee Emil Constantinescu Ion Iliescu Party CDR Independent Alliance PDSR Popular vote 7,057,906 5,914,579 Percentage 54.41% 45.59%

President before election Ion Iliescu PDSR Elected President Emil Constantinescu CDR

General elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, with a second round of the presidential election on 17 November.^[1] Whilst incumbent President Ion Iliescu of the Social Democracy Party of Romania received the most votes in the first round, he was defeated by Emil Constantinescu of the Romanian Democratic Convention in the second round. The Romanian Democratic Convention, a centre-right coalition of parties opposing the governing centre-left PDSR, emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament, winning 122 of the 343 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 53 of the 143 seats in the Senate. The elections resulted in the first peaceful transfer of power after the 1989 Romanian Revolution.

Results

President

Presidential election - First round

Presidential election - Second round

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Emil Constantinescu	Romanian Democratic Convention	3,569,941	28.2	7,057,906	54.4
Ion Iliescu	Party of Social Democracy in Romania	4,081,093	32.3	5,914,579	45.6
Petre Roman	Democratic Party	2,598,545	20.5
György Frunda	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	761,411	6.0
Corneliu Vadim Tudor	Greater Romania Party	597,508	4.7
Gheorghe Funar	Romanian National Unity Party	407,828	3.2
Tudor Mohora	Socialist Party	160,387	1.3
Nicolaei Manolescu	National Liberal Alliance	90,122	0.7
Adrian Păunescu	Socialist Party of Labour	87,163	0.7
Ion Pop de Popa	Humanist Party	59,752	0.5
George Muntean	Independent	54,218	0.4
Radu Câmpeanu	National Liberal Party	43,780	0.3
Nuțu Anghelina	Independent	43,319	0.3
Constantin Mudava	Independent	39,477	0.3
Constantin Niculescu	PNA	30,045	0.2
Nicolae Militaru	Independent	28,318	0.2
Invalid/blank votes		435,481	–	106,398	–
Total		13,088,388	100	13,078,883	100
Registered voters/turnout		17,218,654	76.0	17,230,654	75.9
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

• 
  Ion Iliescu
• 
  Emil Constantinescu
• 
  Petre Roman
• 
  György Frunda
• 
  Corneliu Vadim Tudor

Parliament

Senate

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Romanian Democratic Convention	3,772,084	30.70	53	+19
Social Democracy Party of Romania	2,836,011	23.08	41	–8
Social Democratic Union^[a]	1,617,384	13.16	23	+5
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	837,760	6.82	11	–1
Greater Romania Party	558,026	4.54	8	+2
Romanian National Unity Party	518,962	4.22	7	–7
Socialist Party	277,104	2.26	0	New
Socialist Party of Labour	265,659	2.16	0	–5
National Liberal Alliance	236,132	1.92	0	New
Party of Pensioners of Romania	178,654	1.45	0	New
Romanian Socialist Party of Workers	163,582	1.33	0	New
National Union of the Centre	118,859	0.97	0	New
National Peasant Party	86,746	0.71	0	0
National Liberal Ecologist Alliance	86,359	0.70	0	New
Party of the Roma	80,622	0.66	0	0
Roma Union	72,648	0.59	0	New
National Christian Democratic Party	65,932	0.54	0	New
National Party of the Motorists	57,644	0.47	0	New
Romanian Working Party	49,325	0.40	0	New
Free Republican Party	36,877	0.30	0	0
New Romania Party	35,027	0.29	0	New
Ecological Convention Party of Romania	33,888	0.28	0	New
Party of Reunification–Dacian-Latian Option	28,622	0.23	0	New
Christian Democratic Union	23,656	0.19	0	0
Party for the Motherland	21,295	0.17	0	New
Party of Former Non-Communists and Political Prisoners	20,989	0.17	0	New
Party of Social Protection of Romania	20,972	0.17	0	New
Republican Party	20,273	0.16	0	0
Romanian Socialist Party	18,834	0.15	0	New
Hungarian Free Democrat Party of Romania	12,103	0.10	0	New
Party of Private Entrepreneurs–Social Democratic Party	11,627	0.09	0	New
Party of the Revival of Romania 'Ion Mihalache'	9,111	0.07	0	New
Community of the Roma Ethnicity in Romania	6,073	0.05	0	New
Liberal Christian Party	5,933	0.05	0	New
Party of the Romanian Revolution	2,938	0.02	0	New
Union of the Roma, Constanta County	763	0.01	0	New
Party of Democratic Solidarity	299	0.00	0	New
Independents	98,898	0.80	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	800,717	–	–	–
Total	13,088,388	100	143	0
Registered voters/turnout	17,218,654	76.01	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, University of Essex

Chamber of Deputies

Party	Votes	%	Seats	+/–
Romanian Democratic Convention	3,692,321	30.17	122	+40
Social Democracy Party of Romania	2,633,860	21.52	91	–26
Social Democratic Union^[a]	1,582,231	12.93	53	+10
Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania	812,628	6.64	25	–2
Greater Romania Party	545,430	4.46	19	+3
Romanian National Unity Party	533,384	4.36	18	–12
Socialist Party	280,364	2.29	0	New
Socialist Party of Labour	262,563	2.15	0	–13
Romanian Socialist Party of Workers	212,303	1.73	0	New
National Liberal Alliance	192,495	1.57	0	New
Party of Pensioners of Romania	175,676	1.44	0	New
National Union of the Centre	106,069	0.87	0	New
National Peasant Party	102,831	0.84	0	0
National Liberal Ecologist Alliance	96,412	0.79	0	New
Party of the Roma	82,195	0.67	1	0
Roma Union	71,020	0.58	0	New
National Democratic Christian Party	69,380	0.57	0	New
National Party of the Motorists	56,387	0.46	0	New
Romanian Working Party	50,011	0.41	0	New
New Romania Party	33,672	0.28	0	New
Free Republican Party	29,576	0.24	0	0
Ecological Convention Party of Romania	27,544	0.23	0	New
Party of Reunification–Dacian-Latin Option)	25,620	0.21	0	New
Democratic Forum of Germans	23,888	0.20	1	0
Party of Former Non-Communists and Political Prisoners	21,060	0.17	0	New
Christian Democratic Union	19,693	0.16	0	0
Party for the Motherland	17,841	0.15	0	New
Republican Party	17,190	0.14	0	0
Party of Social Protection of Romania	16,762	0.14	0	New
Hungarian Free Democrat Party of Romania	14,333	0.12	0	New
Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania	12,746	0.10	1	New
Party of Private Entrepreneurs–Social Democratic Party	11,990	0.10	0	New
Community of the Lippovan Russians	11,902	0.10	1	0
Union of Armenians of Romania	11,543	0.09	1	0
Italian Community of Romania	11,454	0.09	1	0
Liberal Christian Party	10,345	0.08	0	New
Association of Italians of Romania	9,833	0.08	0	New
Romanian Socialist Party	9,103	0.07	0	New
Cultural Union of Albanians of Romania	8,722	0.07	1	New
Hellenic Union of Romania	8,463	0.07	1	0
Party of the Revival of Romania 'Ion Mihalache'	7,751	0.06	0	New
Party of the Romanian Revolution	7,340	0.06	0	New
Union of the Ukrainians of Romania	7,165	0.06	1	0
Democratic Union of Serbs and Carasovenians in Romania	6,851	0.06	1	0
Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs of Romania	6,531	0.05	1	0
Democratic Union of Turkish-Muslim Tatars	6,319	0.05	1	0
Bratstvo Community of Bulgarians in Romania	5,359	0.04	1	New
Community of the Roma Ethnicity in Romania	5,227	0.04	0	New
Democratic Turkish Union of Romania	4,326	0.04	1	0
Democratic Union of Ukrainians in Romania	4,132	0.03	0	New
Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania	4,115	0.03	0	–1
Forum of the Szeklers Youth	2142	0.02	0	New
Union of Poles of Romania	1,842	0.02	1	0
Federation of Italians in Romania	1,711	0.01	0	New
Hellenic Union of Romania–Prahova Hellenic Community	1,509	0.01	0	New
Party of Democratic Solidarity	1,352	0.01	0	New
Community of Italians from Galati	791	0.01	0	New
Community of Italians from Pitesti	695	0.01	0	New
General Union of the Associations of the Hutul Ethnicity	646	0.01	0	New
Union of the Roma, Constanta County	640	0.01	0	New
Union of Croatians of Romania	486	0.00	0	0
Social Cultural Association in Romania	439	0.00	0	New
Italian Community - Prahova County	437	0.00	0	New
Federation of Italians in Romania - Italian Community Ovidius Constanta	311	0.00	0	New
Independents	248,825	2.03	0	0
Invalid/blank votes	849,642	–	–	–
Total	13,088,388	100	343	+2
Registered voters/turnout	17,218,654	76.0	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, University of Essex

^a The Social Democratic Union was an alliance of the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Party.

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1591 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7