Ludovic Orban (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈludovikˈorban]; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was the prime minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between 2017 and 2021, which expelled him shortly after he lost a bid for another term as its leader. He was also minister of transport from April 2007 to December 2008 in the second Tăriceanu cabinet.
From 1988 to 1990, a period that spanned the Romanian Revolution, he trained as an engineer at an insulation factory in Târgu Secuiesc.[3][2] He worked as an engineer at a Brașov factory from 1990 to 1991. From 1991 to 1992, he wrote for the daily Viitorul Românesc, and between 1997 and 2001, he held a series of government and agency positions at the Energy Policy Agency, the Disabled Persons Directorate, the Public Information Department, the National Public Employee Agency and the National Centre for Communications and Public Relations Specialisation. He has also been active in a foundation called "Children, the light of the world" and done consulting work.[2]
Rise in politics
Orban with German Chancellor Angela Merkel with in the EPP Summit in Sibiu, 9 May 2019
Orban was a Sector 3 local councillor from 1992 to 1996. He was elected a Sector 1 local councillor that year, but resigned. From 1992 to 1997, he was an advisor for the Liberal Party 1993 (PL '93) (belonging to the party's executive committee between 1993 and 1997) and its predecessor PNL-AT, two splinter groups of the main National Liberal Party (PNL) which sided with the Romanian Democratic Convention during the mid- to late-1990s. In 1998, he joined the PNL's national council, after the PL '93 merged into it. From 2001 to 2002, he sat on the PNL's permanent central bureau and, in 2002, joined the party's public administration committee. He headed the Bucharest chapter of the PNL from November 2002 and, from July 2004 to April 2007, was deputy mayor of Bucharest.[2]
He left this office following a cabinet reshuffle, becoming transport minister[1] until his party's loss at the 2008 election,[4] where he himself won a seat in a Bucharest constituency.[5] While minister, he also ran for mayor of Bucharest as part of the 2008 local elections, losing in the first round by finishing in fourth place with 11.4% of the vote.[6] In March 2009, concurrent with his ally Crin Antonescu's ascent to the PNL presidency and the sidelining of the Tăriceanu faction, Orban became the party's vice president.[7] He ran for the party presidency in December 2014 and was defeated by Alina Gorghiu on a 47–28 vote.[8] Orban was a candidate in the June 2016 race for mayor of Bucharest,[9] but two months before the election, withdrew from the race as well as from his PNL and Chamber posts after being placed under investigation by the National Anticorruption Directorate.[10] He was not a candidate in the 2016 parliamentary election.[11] In January 2017, the High Court of Cassation and Justice acquitted him on a charge of influence peddling.[12] The following month, he announced his candidacy for the PNL leadership;[13] he went on to defeat Cristian Bușoi by a 78–21 margin.[14]
Prime minister and split from PNL
Orban photographed in downtown Bucharest on 29 July 2020
In October 2019, after the fall of Viorica Dăncilă's government, President Klaus Iohannis designated Orban as prime minister.[15] His cabinet received parliamentary approval the following month, with 240 lawmakers voting in favor, seven more than required.[16] His government was ousted via a no-confidence motion in February 2020, with 261 lawmakers voting in favor.[17] The following month, a new Orban-led cabinet received parliamentary approval on a 286–23 vote. Most PNL representatives, including Orban himself, were absent due to suspected exposure to COVID-19. The Social Democrats (PSD) voted in favor of the cabinet, given the emergency circumstances, while pledging concerted opposition. PRO Romania voted against.[18] Orban resigned in December, following the PNL's poor performance at the parliamentary election.[19] At the same time, Orban himself won a new term in the Chamber.[20] Once the new parliament convened, he was elected its president, defeating his PSD rival by a vote of 179–110.[21]
In 2021, Orban ran for a new term as PNL president. During the campaign, he staked out a liberal conservative position, emphasizing a commitment to traditional values and rejecting what he termed "neo-Marxist progressivism".[22] In September, during a party congress, Orban was defeated by Florin Cîțu on a 2,878–1,898 vote, or around 60%-40%.[23] Shortly thereafter, he submitted his resignation as Chamber president to Cîțu.[24] The latter not having taken any action by mid-October, Orban quit by notifying the Chamber secretariat himself.[25] In November, the PNL leadership expelled Orban from the party.[26] The following month, he founded a new centre-right party, Force of the Right (FD).[27]
Controversies
Orban is a somewhat controversial figure, known for his provocative declarations. A fierce critic of the former president, Traian Băsescu, he called him an "imbecile" for referring to the "imbecile" attitude of a minister during summer 2008 floods,[28] and once shouted, "The President is the last Sauron to rule in this realm of darkness!", referencing The Lord of the Rings of J.R.R. Tolkien.[29]
He also criticised the Emil Boc government, which during 2009 was composed of the Băsescu-associated Democratic Liberal Party and the Social Democrats, referring to the latter party's then-leader, Mircea Geoană, as Băsescu's "steward";[30] and attacking cabinet policies on education,[31] tourism promotion (which he sees as an unnecessary luxury),[32] and the financial crisis (where he foresaw the government being unable to pay pensions and salaries).[33] Speaking to a group of female PNL members in Alba County in March 2006, he drew accusations of sexism for saying, "You need not go through any boss's bed to reach important public positions," and declaring that Mioara Mantale, Elena Udrea and party colleague Raluca Turcan had done so, but not Mona Muscă or Norica Nicolai.[34] Driving in Cotroceni in December 2007, his car hit a 16-year-old girl, forcing her hospitalisation; despite a call by the prime minister, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, for his resignation,[35] Orban refused to do so and prosecutors ultimately decided not to pursue criminal charges, although his license was suspended and he was fined.[36]
^ ab"Guvernul cel mai mic" [The smallest government]. Ziua (in Romanian). 3 April 2007. Archived from the original on 18 May 2007. Retrieved 28 February 2008.
^Marin, Iulia; Bărbulescu, Andreea (18 December 2014). "Alina Gorghiu este noul președinte al PNL" [Alina Gorghiu is the new PNL president]. Adevărul (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
^"Orban: "Băsescu e Sauron!"" [Orban: 'Băsescu is Sauron!']. Evenimentul Zilei (in Romanian). 19 January 2008. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
^Georgescu, Romulus (24 May 2008). "Frații Orban, în campanie fără voie de la Bruxelles" [The Orban brothers, in a disallowed campaign from Brussels]. Evenimentul Zilei (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 8 June 2011. Retrieved 28 February 2009.
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