3 November 1996
17 November 1996 2000 → 54.41% 45.59% | 7,057,906 5,914,579 Dates 3 Nov 1996 – 17 Nov 1996 | |
![]() | ||
Winner Emil Constantinescu |
General elections were held in Romania on 3 November 1996, with a second round of the presidential election on 17 November. Whilst incumbent President Ion Iliescu of the Social Democracy Party of Romania received the most votes in the first round, he was defeated by Emil Constantinescu of the Romanian Democratic Convention in the second round. The Romanian Democratic Convention, a centre-right coalition of parties opposing the governing centre-left PDSR, emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament, winning 122 of the 343 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 53 of the 143 seats in the Senate. The elections resulted in the first peaceful transfer of power after the 1989 Romanian Revolution.
Chamber of Deputies
a The Social Democratic Union was an alliance of the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Party.