Romanian National Unity Party

The Romanian National Unity Party (Romanian: Partidul Unităţii Naţionale a Românilor, PUNR) was a nationalist political party in Romania between 1990 and 2006.[1]

History

The PUNR was the first nationalist party in post-Communist Romania, created in 1990, with Gheorghe Funar emerging as its leader. In the 1990 general elections the party ran as part of the Alliance for Romanian Unity alongside the Republican Party.[2] The alliance received 2.1% of the Chamber of Deputies vote in the 1990 general elections, winning nine seats. It also received 2.2% of the Senate vote, winning two seats.[3]

Funar went on to become mayor of Cluj-Napoca. In that office, he would promote Romanian national symbols, especially the blue, yellow and red flag, throughout the city. He was the party's candidate for president in the 1992 general elections, finishing third with 11% of the vote. In the parliamentary elections the PUNR emerged as the fourth-largest party in Parliament, winning 14 seats in the Senate and 30 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

Funar was the party's presidential candidate again in the 1996 elections, but finished sixth in a field of 16 candidates, receiving only 3.2% of the vote. The PUNR also lost seats in Parliament, being reduced to seven Senate seats and 18 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. The party did not nominate a presidential candidate in the 2000 elections, which saw its vote share fall to just 1.4%, resulting in it failing to cross the electoral threshold, losing its parliamentary representation.

Its last leader was former General Mircea Chelaru. On 12 February 2006, the PUNR was absorbed into the Conservative Party.

Electoral history

Legislative elections

Election	Chamber			Senate			Position	Aftermath
Election	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Position	Aftermath
1990	290,875	2.12	9 / 395	300,473	2.15	2 / 119	6th (within AUR)¹	Support to FSN government (until October 1991)
1990	290,875	2.12	9 / 395	300,473	2.15	2 / 119	Support to FSN-PNL-MER-PDAR government
1992	836,547	7.72	30 / 341	887,597	8.12	14 / 143	4th	PDSR-PUNR-PRM (with PSM support)
1996	533,384	4.36	18 / 343	518,962	4.22	7 / 143	6th	Opposition to CDR-USD-UDMR
2000	149,525	1.38	0 / 345	154,761	1.42	0 / 140	9th	Extra-parliamentary support to PDSR minority government
2004	53,222	0.52	0 / 332	56,414	0.55	0 / 137	10th	Extra-parliamentary support to DA-PUR-UDMR

Notes:

¹ AUR members: PUNR (all the mandates) and the Republican Party (no mandates).

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	First round			Second round
Election	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position	Votes	Percentage	Position
1990	did not compete
1992	Gheorghe Funar	1,294,388	10.8%	3rd
1996	Gheorghe Funar	407,828	3.2%	6th
2000	did not compete
2004	did not compete

References

Janusz Bugajski (1995). Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 466–. ISBN 978-0-7656-1911-2.
1990 Parliamentary Elections: Chamber of Deputies Archived 2003-01-07 at the Wayback Machine University of Essex
Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1599–1600 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7

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[Bugajski1995-1] Janusz Bugajski (1995). Ethnic Politics in Eastern Europe: A Guide to Nationality Policies, Organizations, and Parties. M.E. Sharpe. pp. 466–. ISBN 978-0-7656-1911-2.

[2] 1990 Parliamentary Elections: Chamber of Deputies Archived 2003-01-07 at the Wayback Machine University of Essex

[NS-3] Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, pp1599–1600 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7