Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat
Abbreviation	PNȚCD
Leader	Aurelian Pavelescu
Founded	December 1989
Preceded by	National Peasants' Party
Headquarters	Carol I Boulevard, nr. 24 Sector 2,Bucharest
Ideology	Agrarianism[1] Christian democracy[2] National conservatism[3] Monarchism[6] Sovereigntism[7] Euroscepticism[8] Historical: Pro-Europeanism[11] Atlanticism[14]
Political position	Centre-right toright-wing
Regional affiliation	Coalition for Baia Mare (2016)
European affiliation	EPP (1987–2017) ECPP (since 2020)
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists Group (2020–2023)
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
Colours	Green andblue
Senate	0 / 136
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 330
European Parliament (Romanian seats)	0 / 33
Mayors	0 / 3,176
County Councilors	0 / 1,340
Local Councilors	0 / 39,900
Website
www.pntcd.ro
Politics of Romania Political parties Elections

TheChristian Democratic National Peasants' Party (Romanian:Partidul Național Țărănesc Creștin Democrat,PNȚCD) is anagrarian^[1] andChristian democratic^[2]political party inRomania. It claims to be the rightful successor of theinterwarNational Peasants' Party (PNȚ), created from the merger of theRomanian National Party (PNR) from the thenAustro-Hungarian-ruledTransylvania and thePeasants' Party (PȚ) from theRomanian Old Kingdom.

PNȚCD was the largest and most important political party of theRomanian Democratic Convention (Romanian:Convenția Democrată Română, CDR) during the 1990s and was led byCorneliu Coposu andIon Diaconescu, two former political prisoners duringcommunism, but as the 2000s began it gradually fell out of grace amongstcentre-right Romanian voters and slowly became an inactivemicroparty. The party was subsequently excluded from theEuropean People's Party (EPP) in June 2017.^[15] Eventually, it joined theEuropean Christian Political Party (ECPP, then the European Christian Political Movement) in February 2020.^[16]

Given a tremendous disdain and resentment towards Pavelescu's leadership (the incumbent party president since 2011 onwards), another Christian peasant group known as theNational Peasant Alliance (Romanian:Alianța Național Țărăniștă – Țărăniștii, ANȚ) seceded from the main PNȚCD in 2019 (which, according to them and their electoral basin, greatly drifted from its original ideology) and centered around leaderRadu Ghidău (one of the youngest PNȚCD MPs during the legislature of the late 1990s, more specifically the one spanning over 1996–2000) for the2020 Romanian local elections.^[17][18][19]

The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party was (re)-founded byCorneliu Coposu,Ioan Alexandru, andIon Rațiu in December 1989, being thus the first officially registered political party after thefall of communism. The party competed in the1990 elections, where it ranked 4th with 2.5% (or 348,637 votes) and endorsed Ion Rațiu for president. The PNȚCD presidential candidate ranked 3rd, with 4.3% (or 617,007 votes).

Given the political dominance of theNational Salvation Front (FSN) that was exerted prior and after the first free elections in post-1989 Romania, the PNȚCD decided to form a consistent alliance of centre-right parties aiming mainly to oppose it.

As a result, in 1991, most notably alongside theNational Liberal Party (PNL; but also with other noteworthy civic organisations, foundations, and minor additional right-leaning political parties), the PNȚCD formed theRomanian Democratic Convention (CDR).

Eventually, the PNȚCD would affirm itself as the most dominant internal political force for much of the convention's existence. For the period 1990–1992, PNȚCD was one of the main opposition parties.

At the1992 elections, the party ran on a common CDR list (along with other allied parties within the convention) and endorsed the candidacy ofEmil Constantinescu asPresident of Romania. Consequently, the CDR ranked 2nd, having scored 20.16% (or 2,210,722 votes), while Emil Constantinescu managed to qualify in the second round of the presidential election where he finished second with 38.57% (or 4,641,207 votes). For the period 1992–1996, the party was the main opposition force in theParliament of Romania.

At the1996 elections, CDR managed to rank 1st, with 30.70% (or 3,772,084 votes), and once again endorsed Emil Constantinescu, who also managed to win the presidency with 54.41% (or 7,057,906 votes). For the period 1996–2000, PNȚCD was the most important governing party within the CDR, being also part of a grand coalition which included theDemocratic Party (PD) and theDemocratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ).

At the2000 elections, PNȚCD ran on a common CDR 2000 list and scored 5.30% (or 575,706 votes), being unable to pass the electoral threshold required for an alliance. This weak electoral result was primarily owed to the fragmentation of the alliance and the scission of the Romanian right into several other parties as well as to the tumultuous previous governing term. For the period 2000–2004, PNȚCD was in extra-parliamentary opposition.

At the2004 elections, PNȚCD ran independently, having obtained 1.9% (or 196,027 votes), failing this time as well to surpass the needed electoral threshold. The party endorsed the presidential candidacy ofGheorghe Ciuhandu, former mayor ofTimișoara. Ciuhandu eventually ranked 5th in the first round, with 1.9% (or 198,394 votes).

In March 2005, PNȚCD voted to change its name to the Christian Democratic People's Party (Romanian:Partidul Popular Creștin-Democrat,PPCD) after the unification with the Union for Romanian Reconstruction. Eventually, it returned to its original name (PNȚCD). The party did not compete in the2008 legislative elections.

Afterwards, the party was split between a wing sustained byMarian Petre Miluț endorsingAurelian Pavelescu as president (who decided on an alliance with the then governingDemocratic Liberal Party, PDL) and one endorsing formerPrime Minister andBucharest mayorVictor Ciorbea as president (who, at that time, favoured an alliance with the National Liberal Party).^[20]

Victor Ciorbea was elected on 18 June 2011 president of the party. In September 2011, the Bucharest Courthouse (responsible for the parties registry) recognisedVictor Ciorbea as party president.^[21] Nonetheless, the split continued until Ciorbea left the party (until October 2012 namely) in order to become a senator on PNL's lists. Pavelescu was subsequently recognised as president and the fractions were dissolved.

For the2012 legislative elections, PNȚCD ran on a commonRight Romania Alliance (ARD), along with the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), and theCivic Force (FC). The party won one senator seat and one deputy seat. On 23 April 2013, Pavelescu was elected president of the party.

At the2014 European Parliament election, the party gained only 0.89% of the cast votes,^[22] with candidates like former EP memberSebastian Bodu and the current party president, Aurelian Pavelescu, opening the list.

Following the2019 European Parliament election and thanks to an agreement between the party and theSocial Democratic Party (PSD), the party has 1MEP, more specificallyCristian Terheș.^[23]

For the2019 Romanian presidential election, the party did not compete but endorsed PSD candidate Viorica Dăncilă. Furthermore, the party did not compete for the2020 Romanian legislative election but it did compete for the2020 Romanian local elections, where it won 1 mayor and 42 local councillors.

Its motto as of 2006 wasFiecare contează (Each one counts). At the2014 EU elections,PNȚCD's motto wasRenaștem pentru România ta! (Reborn for your Romania!).

The PNȚCD is anagrarian,Christian democratic, andChristian humanist political party that stands for "social justice, Christian morality and enlightened patriotism." The party isanti-communist and advocates for de-Sovietization within Romania. It endorses theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights in conjunction with theRomanian constitution and seeks to protect the cultural and traditional rights of all Romanian people. It also advocates for equal opportunities for all Romanians, uphold rule of law, defends the right to private property ownership, and calls for economic reform to stimulate theRomanian economy.^[24]

Internationally, the party is a member ofCentrist Democrat International (CDI) along with other Christian democratic andconservative movements and was affiliated with theEuropean People's Party (EPP) in theEuropean Parliament before joining theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group.

Notes:

¹CDR members in 1992: PNȚCD,PAC (7 senators and 13 deputies),PNL-AT (1 senator and 11 deputies),PSDR (1 senator and 10 deputies),PNL-CD (4 senators and 3 deputies), andPER (no senators and 4 deputies).
²CDR members in 1996: PNȚCD,PNL (22 senators and 28 deputies),PNL-CD (1 senator and 4 deputies),PAR (3 senators and 3 deputies),PER (1 senator and 5 deputies), and Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER – 1 senator and 1 deputy).
³CDR 2000 members: PNȚCD,UFD, Ecologist Federation of Romania (FER), National Christian Democratic Alliance (ANCD), and The Moldavians' Party (PM).
⁴PNȚCD competed on PNL lists.
⁵Right Romania Alliance (ARD) members:PDL (22 senators and 52 deputies),FC (1 senator and 3 deputies), and PNȚCD.

Notes:

¹Emil Constantinescu was the common centre-right candidate who was endorsed by the PNȚCD in both 1992 and 1996 as part of the largerRomanian Democratic Convention (CDR).
²Mugur Isărescu was endorsed by the PNȚCD at the 2000 elections as part of theRomanian Democratic Convention 2000 (CDR 2000) alliance.
³PDL candidate endorsed by PNȚCD due to a decision enforced by the then official fraction of the PNȚCD led byMarian Petre Miluț.
⁴Elena Udrea was endorsed by thePeople's Movement Party (PMP)-PNȚCD alliance at the2014 Romanian presidential election.
⁵PSD candidate endorsed by PNȚCD.

⁶Independent candidate endorsed by PNȚCD in the second round, which was ultimately not held

⁷AUR candidate endorsed by PNȚCD

Notes:

¹Electoral protocol endorsing theSocial Democratic Party (PSD).

Nº	Name Born – Died	Portrait	Term start	Term end	Duration
1	Corneliu Coposu (1914–1995)		1990	1995	c. 5 years
2	Ion Diaconescu (1917–2011)		1995	2001	c. 6 years
–	Constantin Dudu Ionescu [ro] (acting/ad interim) (1954–		2001	2001	less than 1 year
3	Andrei Marga (1946–		2002	2002	less than 1 year
4	Victor Ciorbea (1954–		2002	2004	c. 2 years
5	Gheorghe Ciuhandu (1947–		2004	2007	c. 3 years
6	Marian Petre Miluț (1955–		2007	2011	c. 4 years
7	Aurelian Pavelescu (1964–		2011	Incumbent	c. 11 years

• Lavinia Stan, "From Riches to Rags: The Romanian National Christian Democrat Peasant Party",East European Quarterly, vol. 39, no. 2 (Summer 2005), pp. 179–227.

• Official site
• Official site of Cluj County Organization
• News about PNȚCD
• History of PNȚCD
• Past leaders of PNȚCD

• 1989 establishments in Romania
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