1990 Romanian general election
20 May 1990
Presidential election
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1992 →
 
Nominee Ion Iliescu Radu Câmpeanu Ion Rațiu
Party FSN PNL PNȚCD
Popular vote 12,232,498 1,529,188 617,007
Percentage 85.07% 10.64% 4.29%
President before election

Ion Iliescu
FSN

Elected President

Ion Iliescu
FSN

Parliamentary election
← 1985
1992 →
All 119 seats in the Senate
All 396 seats in the Assembly of Deputies
Party Leader % Seats
Assembly of Deputies
FSN Ion Iliescu 66.31 263
UDMR Géza Domokos 7.23 29
PNL Radu Câmpeanu 6.41 29
MER Toma George Maiorescu 2.62 12
PNȚCD Corneliu Coposu 2.56 12
AUR 2.12 9
PDAR Victor Surdu 1.83 9
PER Otto Weber 1.69 8
PSDR (Socialist) Cornel Nica 1.05 5
PSDR (Social) Sergiu Cunescu 0.53 2
GDC 0.48 2
PDM 0.38 1
PLS Ștefan Cazimir 0.34 1
PRN 0.32 1
PTLDR 0.32 1
UL–B 0.27 1
Minority parties 0.99 11
Senate
FSN Ion Iliescu 67.02 91
UDMR Géza Domokos 7.20 12
PNL Radu Câmpeanu 7.06 10
PNȚCD Corneliu Coposu 2.50 1
MER Toma George Maiorescu 2.45 1
AUR 2.15 2
PER Otto Weber 1.38 1
Independents Antonie Iorgovan 3.06 1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
The results for the Assembly of Deputies and for the Senate
Prime Minister before Prime Minister-designate
Petre Roman Petre Roman
FSN		 Petre Roman
FSN		Petre Roman
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General elections were held in Romania on 20 May 1990 to elect the President and members of Parliament.[1] They were the first elections held after the overthrow of the communist regime six months earlier and the first free elections held in the country since 1937.[2] It was also the first time the president had been directly elected,[1] the position having been previously elected by the legislature since it was introduced in 1974.[3]

The National Salvation Front (FSN), which had headed the interim government that took power after the overthrow of Nicolae Ceaușescu, won a decisive victory. Opposition parties performed well below expectations; none of them had the time or resources to present themselves as alternatives to the FSN.[4] Interim President and FSN leader Ion Iliescu was elected for a full term with 85 percent of the vote. The 1990 Romanian presidential election was the first of its kind held in post-1989 Romania. The FSN also won large majorities in both houses of Parliament, with 263 of the 395 seats in the Assembly of Deputies and 91 of the 118 seats in the Senate.

The United States State Department expressed concerns about organised violence and polling irregularities, but concluded that they had had no effect on the outcome and pronounced the elections free and fair.[5]

To date, this is the only time since direct presidential elections were introduced that a president has been elected without the need for a runoff. Iliescu's 85 percent vote share also remains the highest for a direct presidential election.

Presidential candidates

Name Lifespan Public Administration Experience Affiliation and endorsements Alma mater and profession Candidacy
Announcement dates

Ion Iliescu 		Born: March 3, 1930
(age 60)
Oltenița, Călărași County 		Acting President of Romania: 1989–election day
President of Water Surfaces Management Council (1979–1984)
Member of the State Council (full member: 1979–1980, observative: 1974–1979)
President of Iași County Council (1974–1979)
Vice-president of Timiș County Council (1971–1974)
Minister of Youth (1967–1971)
Deputy (1957–1961, 1965–1973, 1975–1985) 		Affiliation: FSN Energy Institute, Moscow State University (1954)

fluid mechanics engineer,
publishing house manager 		Official: April 8, 1990[6]
BEC filing: April 17, 1990[7]

Radu Câmpeanu 		Born: February 28, 1922
(age 68)
Bucharest
Died October 19, 2016, Bucharest 		Affiliation: PNL
Endorsed by UDMR and PER 		Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest (1945)
Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Bucharest (1947)

economist 		BEC filing: April 19, 1990[8]

Ion Rațiu 		Born: June 6, 1917
(age 72)
Turda, Cluj County
Died: January 17, 2000, London 		Chancellor at Romanian Embassy in UK (1940) Affiliation: PNȚCD
Endorsed by: PSDR 		Faculty of Law, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca (1938)
Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge (1943)

lawyer, economist, journalist 		Official: April 6, 1990[9]
BEC filing: April 23, 1990

Results

President

CandidatePartyVotes%
Ion IliescuNational Salvation Front12,232,49885.07
Radu CâmpeanuNational Liberal Party1,529,18810.64
Ion RațiuChristian Democratic National Peasants' Party617,0074.29
Total14,378,693100.00
Valid votes14,378,69396.98
Invalid/blank votes447,9233.02
Total votes14,826,616100.00
Registered voters/turnout17,200,72286.20
Source: AEP

Parliament

Senate

Senate results
PartyVotes%Seats
National Salvation Front9,353,00667.0291
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania1,004,3537.2012
National Liberal Party985,0947.0610
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party348,6872.501
Ecological Movement of Romania341,4782.451
Alliance for Romanian Unity300,4732.152
Democratic Agrarian Party of Romania221,7901.590
Ecologist Party of Romania192,5741.381
Romanian Socialist Democratic Party152,9891.100
Romanian Social Democratic Party69,7620.500
Democratic Group of the Centre65,4400.470
National Reconstruction Party52,4650.380
Party of Free Change46,2470.330
Democratic Party of Labour44,3600.320
Liberal Union–Brătianu35,9430.260
Party of Young Free Democrats32,5060.230
Cooperatist Party22,8690.160
Christian Democratic Union21,2100.150
Democratic Union of the Roma of Romania19,8470.140
Democratic Forum of Germans19,1050.140
Liberal Party of Freedom of Romania14,5460.100
Democratic Environmentalist Party14,4960.100
Party of Democratic Unity14,0690.100
Party of Democratic Unity of Moldova13,1110.090
Party of Labour11,3970.080
Republican Christian Party11,0450.080
Grouping of the Centre 'New Romania'9,4050.070
Humanistic Ecological Party - founded in Arad8,8880.060
Turkish Muslim Democratic Union8,4890.060
Union of the Ukrainians of Romania8,3100.060
Party Christian Orthodox Union7,3240.050
Democratic Union 'Tara Oasului'7,1810.050
Party of Christian Union of Romania7,0450.050
Romanian Christian Social Democratic Party6,9640.050
Party of the Gypsies of Romania5,5650.040
Party of Social Justice5,3440.040
Party Alliance for Democracy4,9580.040
Party of Labour and Social Justice of Romania4,4900.030
Romanian Party for a New Society3,8600.030
Romanian Peasant Party3,5470.030
Republican Union Party3,2800.020
Party for National and Democratic Reconstruction3,2280.020
Democratic Party of Cluj2,7510.020
Radical Democratic Party2,6000.020
Free Democratic Union of Roma of Romania2,5050.020
Romanian Popular Front of National Salvation1,6600.010
Association of Former Political Prisoners/Detainees and Victims of the Dictatorship in Romania1,6130.010
Humanitarian Party of Peace1,5990.010
Constitutional Democratic Party of Romania1,2240.010
Party for the Honouring of the Heroes of the Revolution and National Salvation1,0890.010
Romanian National Party1,0190.010
Party Democratic Future of the Motherland1,0080.010
Democratic Progressive Party9140.010
Union of Poles of Romania8480.010
National Republican Party7540.010
Workers Alliance 'Freedom' Anticommunist and Antifascist6720.000
National Progressive Party6340.000
Party of the Romanian House of Democratic Europe5530.000
Movement 'Young Democracy'4620.000
Independents427,5353.061
Total13,956,180100.00119
Valid votes13,956,18094.13
Invalid/blank votes869,5845.87
Total votes14,825,764100.00
Registered voters/turnout17,200,72286.19
Source: AEP

Assembly of Deputies

Assembly of Deputies results
PartyVotes%Seats
National Salvation Front9,089,65966.31263
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania991,6017.2329
National Liberal Party879,2906.4129
Ecological Movement of Romania358,8642.6212
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party351,3572.5612
Alliance for Romanian Unity290,8752.129
Democratic Agrarian Party of Romania250,4031.839
Ecologist Party of Romania232,2121.698
Romanian Socialist Democratic Party143,3931.055
Romanian Social Democratic Party73,0140.532
Democratic Group of the Centre65,9140.482
Democratic Party of Labour52,5950.381
Party of Free Change47,0170.341
National Reconstruction Party43,8080.321
Party of Young Free Democrats43,1880.321
Democratic Forum of Germans38,7680.281
Liberal Union–Brătianu36,8690.271
Democratic Union of the Roma of Romania29,1620.211
Democratic Environmentalist Party26,0580.190
Cooperatist Party24,7490.180
Christian Democratic Union24,0010.180
United Democratic Party of the Roma Woodworkers and Fiddlers in Romania21,8470.160
Romanian Peasant Party21,5880.160
Liberal Party of Freedom of Romania20,7440.150
Community of the Lipovan Russians17,9740.131
Party Christian Orthodox Union17,5210.130
Socialist Party of Justice17,4840.130
Party of the Gypsies of Romania16,8650.120
Party of Democratic Unity from Moldova16,8630.120
Party of Democratic Unity16,3540.120
Union of the Ukrainians of Romania16,1790.121
Party of Christian Union14,9020.110
Humanistic Ecological Party12,7390.090
Romanian Party for the New Society12,3050.090
Party of Labour10,7440.080
Democratic Union of the Serbs of Romania9,0950.071
Grouping of the Centre 'New Romania'9,0730.070
Christian Republican Party8,9390.070
Turkish Muslim Democratic Union8,6000.061
Democratic Christian Party of the Roma of Romania7,9390.060
Party Alliance for Democracy6,6950.050
Democratic Union 'Țara Oasului'6,2150.050
Romanian Social Democratic Christian Party6,1940.050
Romanian Popular Front of National Salvation5,2080.040
Hellenic Union of Romania4,9320.041
Free Democratic Union of Roma in Romania4,6050.030
Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs of Romania4,5840.031
National Romanian Party3,9830.030
Bulgarian Union of Banat – Bulgarian Cultural Association from Bucharest3,4510.031
Radical Democratic Party3,2400.020
Party for National and Democratic Reconstruction3,2230.020
Republican Union Party2,6930.020
Independent Hungarian Party2,5780.020
Modern Democratic Movement2,4880.020
Union of Poles of Romania2,3720.021
Forum of Democracy and National Unity of Romania2,1760.020
Party of Labour and Social Justice of Romania2,1460.020
Party of the Democratic Future of the Motherland2,0910.020
Party of Social Justice (New Democracy) of the North West of Romania2,0730.020
National Republican Party1,6100.010
Progressive Democratic Party1,4950.010
Association of Former Political Prisoners/Detainees and Victims of the Dictatorship in Romania1,4040.010
National Progressive Party1,1160.010
Democratic Constitutional Party of Romania9460.010
Party for the Honouring of the Heroes of the Revolution and National Salvation8910.010
Democratic Party of Cluj4250.000
Union of Armenians of Romania3990.001
Party of the Romanian House of Democratic Europe3900.000
Movement 'Young Democracy'3280.000
Independents256,6561.870
Total13,707,159100.00396
Valid votes13,707,15992.46
Invalid/blank votes1,117,8587.54
Total votes14,825,017100.00
Registered voters/turnout17,200,72286.19
Source: AEP

References

  1. ^ a b Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p1591 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. ^ Romanians Hope Free Elections Mark Revolution's Next Stage. Chicago Tribune. 30 March 1990.
  3. ^ Romania: Central Government Library of Congress Country Studies
  4. ^ "Front In Romania Seems Victorious In Free Elections". The New York Times. 21 May 1990.
  5. ^ "Romanian Election Is Valid Despite Flaws, U.S. Declares". The New York Times. 26 May 1990.
  6. ^ "Stiri.tvr.ro - Site-ul de stiri al TVR". Stiri.tvr.ro.
  7. ^ "17 aprilie 1990, data la care a fost depusă prima candidatură la alegerile prezidențiale din România după căderea lui Nicolae Ceaușescu". Europa FM. April 17, 2019.
  8. ^ "Radu Câmpeanu, campanie mai mult afară decât în ţară". jurnalul.ro.
  9. ^ "Ion Raţiu – candidatul ţărănist la Preşedinţie". jurnalul.ro.
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