PRO Romania PRO România | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | PRO |
| President | Vacant |
| Secretary-General | Alin Văcaru |
| Spokesperson | Gabriela Podașcă |
| Founders | Victor Ponta Sorin Cîmpeanu Daniel Constantin |
| Founded | 29 May 2017; 8 years ago (2017-05-29) |
| Registered | 20 February 2018; 7 years ago (2018-02-20) |
| Split from | Social Democratic Party (PSD) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre[11] tocentre-left[12][13][14] |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists (observer) |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Colors | Blue Red Yellow |
| Senate | 0 / 136 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 0 / 330 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 33 |
| Mayors | 0 / 3,176 |
| County Councilors | 0 / 1,340 |
| Local Council Councilors | 110 / 39,900 |
| Website | |
| www | |
PRO Romania (Romanian:PRO România,PRO) is an extra-parliamentarysocial liberal[15][16]political party inRomania.
The founding of PRO Romania was initiated in 2017 by former Prime MinisterVictor Ponta, formeracting/ad interim Prime Minister and Minister of EducationSorin Cîmpeanu, and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Environment and Climate ChangeDaniel Constantin. The party was formally established on 20 February 2018 inBucharest
Corina Crețu,European Commissioner for Regional Policy, announced on 17 January 2019 that she would be a candidate in theEuropean Parliament election on behalf of PRO Romania.[17] She would be at the second position in the list after Victor Ponta.[18]
Four days later, senator and formerMinister of National DefenceAdrian Țuțuianu announced that he joined the party,[19] becoming the first senator to join PRO Romania.[20]
In 2019, PRO Romania was represented in theRomanian Parliament by 20deputies[21] and 1senator[20] and in theEuropean Parliament by 2MEPs.[22]
The party joined the European political partyEuropean Democratic Party (EDP) in February 2019.[23] However, its MEPs sit in theProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (PES) and not in theRenew Europe group.
In 2020, theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) merged into PRO Romania, and the expanded party has renamed itselfPRO Romania Social-Liberal (Romanian:PRO România Social-Liberal).[24]
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.[25]
In October 2022, the party became an observer member of theParty of European Socialists (PES).[26]
Since its establishment, many high-profile former members of PSD or ALDE[27] have joined PRO Romania, including:
| 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 toPSD-ALDE government (2018–2019) | ||||||||
| Opposition toPSD minority government (2019) | ||||||||
| EndorsingPNL minority government (2019–2020) | ||||||||
| Opposition toPNL minority government (2020) | ||||||||
| 2020 | 236,454 | 4.16 | 0 / 330 | 238,888 | 4.19 | 0 / 136 | 7th | Extra-parliamentary opposition toPNL-USR PLUS-UDMR government (2020–2021) |
| Extra-parliamentary opposition toPNL-UDMR minority government (2021) | ||||||||
| Extra-parliamentary endorsement forCNR government (2021–present) | ||||||||
Notes:
1 The MPs were elected onPSD's andALDE's lists.
| 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 |
| 2024 | 17.633 | –.2,06 | 0 / 1,340 | 18.063 | – | 0 / 3,176 | 29.505 | 3.34 | 110 / 39,900 | — | — | 17th |
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2019 | Mircea Diaconu1 | 815,201 | 8.85% | 4th | not qualified | ||
| 2025 | Victor Ponta1 | 1,230,164 | 13.04% | 4th | not qualified | ||
Notes:
1Mircea Diaconu was the candidate of the "One Man" (Romanian:Un om) alliance; The alliance's members were PRO Romania andALDE.
| Election | Votes | Percentage | MEPs | Position | EU Party | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 583,916 | 6.44% | 2 / 32 | 4th | EDP | S&D |
| 2024 | not participated | |||||
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.
