PRO Romania

PRO Romania (Romanian: PRO România, PRO) is a minor extra-parliamentary social liberal[13][14] political party in Romania.

PRO Romania
PRO România
AbbreviationPRO
PresidentVictor Ponta
Secretary-GeneralAlin Văcaru
SpokespersonGabriela Podașcă
FounderVictor Ponta
Founded29 May 2017 (2017-05-29)
Registered20 February 2018 (2018-02-20)
Split fromSocial Democratic Party (PSD)
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE)
Ideology
Political positionCentre[9] to centre-left[10][11][12]
European affiliationParty of European Socialists (observer)
European Parliament groupProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colors  Blue
  Red
  Yellow
Senate
0 / 136
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 330
European Parliament
1 / 33
Mayors
36 / 3,176
County Councilors
56 / 1,340
Local Council Councilors
1,885 / 39,900
Website
www.proromaniaonline.ro

History

The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, former acting/ad interim Prime Minister and Minister of Education Sorin Cîmpeanu, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Daniel Constantin. The party was formally established on 20 February 2018 in Bucharest

Corina Crețu, European Commissioner for Regional Policy, announced on 17 January 2019 that she would be a candidate in the European Parliament election on behalf of PRO Romania.[15] She would be at the second position in the list after Victor Ponta.[16]

Only four days later, senator and former Minister of National Defence Adrian Țuțuianu announced that he joined the party,[17] becoming the first senator to join PRO Romania.[18]

In 2019, PRO Romania was represented in the Romanian Parliament by 20 deputies[19] and 1 senator[18] and in the European Parliament by 2 MEPs.[20]

The party joined the European political party European Democratic Party (EDP) in February 2019.[21] However, its MEPs sit in the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PES) and not in the Renew Europe group.

In 2020, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) merged into PRO Romania, and the expanded party has renamed itself PRO Romania Social-Liberal (Romanian: PRO România Social-Liberal).[22]

Nevertheless, on 26 January 2021, the executive bureau of PRO Romania met to stop the merger procedure between the party and ALDE, thereby formally ceasing the union between the two parties.[23]

In October 2022, the party became an observer member of the Party of European Socialists (PES).[24]

Members

Since its establishment, many high-profile former members of PSD or ALDE[25] have joined PRO Romania, including:

  • Nicolae Bănicioiu - member of the Chamber of Deputies and former Minister of Health;
  • Ioana Petrescu - former Minister of Finance;
  • Augustin Jianu - former Minister of Communications and Information Society;
  • Mircea Dobre - member of the Chamber of Deputies and former Minister of Tourism;
  • Gabriela Podașcă, Cătălin Nechifor, Mircea Banias, Emilia Meiroșu, Mihaela Huncă, Eugen Durbacă, Alin Văcaru, Adrian Pau - members of the Chamber of Deputies;
  • Răzvan Cotovelea - former Minister of Communications and Information Society;
  • Adrian Țuțuianu - senator and former Minister of National Defence.

Electoral history

Legislative elections
Election Chamber Senate Position Aftermath
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2016 did not exist1
21 / 329
 did not exist
0 / 136
 — PSD-ALDE government (2017–2018)
Opposition to PSD-ALDE government (2018–2019)
Opposition to PSD minority government (2019)
Endorsing PNL minority government (2019–2020)
Opposition to PNL minority government (2020)
2020 236,454 4.16
0 / 330
 238,888 4.19
0 / 136
  7th  Extra-parliamentary opposition to PNL-USR PLUS-UDMR government (2020–2021)
Extra-parliamentary opposition to PNL-UDMR minority government (2021)
Extra-parliamentary endorsement for CNR government (2021–present)

Notes:

1 The MPs were elected on PSD's and ALDE's lists.

Local elections
Election County Councilors (CJ) Mayors Local Councilors (CL) Popular vote  % Position
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2020 356,030 4.95
56 / 1,340
 331,854 4.09
36 / 3,176
 381,535 4.76
1,885 / 39,900
 — —  5th 

Presidential elections
Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes Percentage Position Votes Percentage Position
2019 Mircea Diaconu1815,201
8.85%
 4th not qualified

Notes:

1 Mircea Diaconu was the candidate of the "One Man" (Romanian: Un om) alliance; The alliance's members were PRO Romania and ALDE.

European elections
ElectionVotesPercentageMEPsPositionEU PartyEP Group
2019 583,916 6.44%
2 / 32
  4th  EDP S&D

References
  1. "Politico: Romania en Marche. Ponta vrea sa creeze un spatiu pro-european si progresist - asta daca nu intra la inchisoare".
  2. https://newsweek.ro/politica/fostul-co-presedinte-usl-victor-ponta-bucuros-sa-se-intoarca-in-psd-a-fost-dat-afara-de-dragnea
  3. "Victor Ponta: The ruling PSD in Romania is becoming like Fidesz". 3 April 2019.
  4. "Politico: Romania en Marche. Ponta vrea sa creeze un spatiu pro-european si progresist - asta daca nu intra la inchisoare".
  5. "Victor Ponta salută lansarea în Italia a noului partid progresist și proeuropean "Italia Viva", la inițiativa fostului premier italian Matteo Renzi - caleaeuropeana.ro". 22 September 2019.
  6. "EU socialists say Romania's Victor Ponta is 'fully unreliable'". 21 May 2019.
  7. "EU socialists say Romania's Victor Ponta is 'fully unreliable'". 21 May 2019.
  8. "Romania".
  9. Andra Banea; Robert Steenland; Simona Brăileanu (4 April 2019). "EU country briefing: Romania". Euractiv. First, former Prime Minister Ponta (who left the PSD) created a new centrist party dubbed PRO Romania, which has taken over some of PSD's supporters.
  10. Ilie, Luiza; Marinas, Radu-Sorin (4 November 2019). "Romanian government wins confidence vote, key for EU policymaking". Reuters.
  11. "Proromania.eu".
  12. "Romania".
  13. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Romania". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  14. "Victor Ponta, în partidul Pro România, alături de Daniel Constantin: Nu mi-am propus să rup PSD". Libertatea.ro (in Romanian). 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2018-11-13.
  15. Redacția (2019-01-17). "Oficial: Corina Crețu va candida din partea partidului lui Victor Ponta la europarlamentare". G4Media (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-01-18.
  16. "Europarlamentare. Țuțuianu: Victor Ponta și Corina Crețu deschid lista Pro România". www.dcnews.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  17. "Adrian Țuțuianu a făcut ANUNȚUL - Dat afară din PSD, fostul ministru se înscrie în partidul condus de Victor Ponta". Stiri pe surse. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  18. "Adrian Țuțuianu s-a înscris în partidul lui Victor Ponta". Digi24 (in Romanian). 21 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  19. Angheluș, Marinela (2019-02-01). "Răsturnare de situație pe scena politică: PRO România, cot la cot cu ALDE în Camera Deputaților". PSnews (in Romanian). Retrieved 2019-02-01.
  20. "Advanced search | Search | MEPs | European Parliament | Romania". www.europarl.europa.eu. Retrieved 2019-02-13.
  21. "Five new members joined the European Democrats | European Democrats – European Democratic Party". www.democrats.eu. Retrieved 2019-02-09.
  22. Liberă, Europa (8 October 2020). "ALDE & Pro România fuzionează și formează Pro România Social Liberal". Europa Liberă România (in Romanian). Retrieved 2020-10-08.
  23. Pecheanu, Gabriel (2021-01-26). "Pro România a convocat un congres extraordinar pentru întreruperea demersurilor de fuziune cu ALDE". Mediafax (in Romanian). Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  24. "PES Congress welcomes new PES leadership team and four new member parties". 15 October 2022.
  25. "Ponta Comeback Alarms Romania's Ruling Party". Balkaninsight.com. 2018-05-25. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
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