1996 Romanian general election

1996 Romanian general election

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Presidential election
3 November 1996 (first round)
17 November 1996 (second round)
Turnout76.01% (first round)
75.90% (second round)
 
Nominee Emil Constantinescu Ion Iliescu
Party PNȚCD PDSR
Alliance CDR
Popular vote 7,057,906 5,914,579
Percentage 54.41% 45.59%

Constantinescu:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Iliescu:      50–60%      60–70%

President before election

Ion Iliescu
FDSN

Elected President

Emil Constantinescu
CDR

Parliamentary election
3 November 1996

All 143 seats in the Senate
All 343 seats in the Chamber of Deputies
Party Leader Vote % Seats +/–
Chamber of Deputies
CDR Emil Constantinescu 30.17 122 +40
PDSR Ion Iliescu 21.52 91 −26
USD Petre Roman 12.93 53 +10
UDMR Béla Markó 6.64 25 −2
PRM Corneliu Vadim Tudor 4.46 19 +3
PUNR Gheorghe Funar 4.36 18 −12
Minority parties 1.67 15 +2
Senate
CDR Emil Constantinescu 30.70 53 +19
PDSR Ion Iliescu 23.08 41 −8
USD Petre Roman 13.16 23 +5
UDMR Béla Markó 6.82 11 −1
PRM Corneliu Vadim Tudor 4.54 8 +2
PUNR Gheorghe Funar 4.22 7 −7
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Results for the Chamber of Deputies and Senate
Prime Minister before Prime Minister-designate
Nicolae Văcăroiu Nicolae Văcăroiu
PDSR
Victor Ciorbea
PNȚCD (CDR)
Victor Ciorbea

General elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, with a second round of the presidential election on 17 November.[1]

Opinion polls prior to the elections suggested incumbent President Ion Iliescu of the Social Democracy Party of Romania (PDSR, formerly the Democratic National Salvation Front) would win a third term, though it was believed a large field of candidates would push him into a runoff.[2] Iliescu received the most votes in the first round, just ahead of his 1992 run-off opponent, Emil Constantinescu of the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR).

In the second round, Constantinescu defeated Iliescu with 54 percent of the vote. Iliescu conceded defeat soon after the polls closed.[3] Constantinescu took office on 29 November, marking the first peaceful transfer of power since the fall of communism. To date, it is the only time since the introduction of direct presidential elections that an incumbent Romanian president has been defeated when running for re-election. The 1996 Romanian presidential election was the third of its kind held in post-1989 Romania.

The CDR, a broad coalition of parties opposing the governing centre-left PDSR, also 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.

  1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1591 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Jane Perlez (3 November 1996). "Romanians Vote Today, But Change Isn't Likely". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Jane Perlez (18 November 1996). "Non-Communist Is Elected Romania's Leader". The New York Times.