National Salvation Front (Romania)

The National Salvation Front (Template:Langx, FSN) was the most important political organization formed during the Romanian Revolution in December 1989; it set up the interim governing body, the National Salvation Front Council of Romania, in the first weeks after the collapse of the communist regime. The FSN subsequently became a political party, the largest party in post-communist Romania, and won the 1990 election with 66% of the national vote. Ion Iliescu, co-leader of the FSN, won election as President of Romania with 85% of the vote.

Iliescu nominated the co-leader of the FSN, Petre Roman, who was serving as interim prime minister, as the prime minister of the first cabinet formed after Romania's first post-Ceaușescu free and fair elections. After the fourth Template:Lang (September 1991), Roman was forced to resign on 1 October 1991. Tensions between Iliescu and Roman came to a head in April 1992, at the national congress of FSN, when the party split in two, forming the Democratic Front of National Salvation (FDSN), led by President Iliescu; and FSN, led by Petre Roman (in 1993, the FSN was the renamed as the Democratic Party (PD).

The National Salvation Front (FSN) founded by Iliescu and Roman was the common root of two of the largest active political parties in post-communist Romania: the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Party (PD, later the Democratic Liberal Party, PDL, after the merger with a splinter group from PNL, the Liberal Democratic Party, PLD). In 2014, the second party (the former PD; then PDL) merged into the National Liberal Party (PNL).

History

Formation and rise to power

In March 1989 six prominent members of the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) wrote an open letter to President Nicolae Ceaușescu that criticised his abuses of power and his economic policies. The so-called "Letter of the Six" was circulated in the Western media and read on Radio Free Europe.

In 1989, before the 14th Congress of the Romanian Communist Party, two letters signed "National Salvation Front" began circulating. They were read on Radio Free Europe on 27 August and 8 November.<ref name="Deletant290"/> The first letter had a number of questions about Ceaușescu's mismanagement of the economy and human rights violations, while the second letter appealed to the Congress not to re-elect Ceaușescu.<ref name="Deletant290">Deletant, p.290</ref>

The creation of the FSN was officially announced to the public by Ion Iliescu in radio and TV addresses on 22 December 1989, after the overthrow of Ceaușescu in the Romanian Revolution. The FSN proclaimed itself the supreme power within Romania. Within four days, the FSN formed an interim government with Ion Iliescu being the president and Petre Roman as the interim prime minister.<ref>Roper, p.65-66</ref> The initial membership of FSN came from diverse backgrounds: intellectuals, students, army officers, but the leaders were mostly former Communist officials (see List of members of the National Salvation Front Council).<ref name=roper66/> People flocked to the National Salvation Front (FSN) for a multitude of reasons ranging from religious oppression in members such as László Tőkés<ref name=Romanian_Romania>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and alleged mismanagement and marginalization of undesirables within the Communist party in members such as Ion Iliescu.<ref name=Revolution1989>Template:Cite book</ref>

In the following years, the naming identity between the power body created in December 1989 and the group signing the November 1989 leaflets led some to question whether the National Salvation Front (FSN) existed as an underground organization. According to Silviu Brucan, this was not the case, as the letters were written by Alexandru Melian, a professor at the University of Bucharest, who had no connection to the leaders of the NSF.<ref name="Deletant290"/> This was contradicted by Nicolae Militaru, who claimed that he, together with Ion Iliescu, led a clandestine National Salvation Front which asked Melian to write this appeal.<ref name="Deletant291">Deletant, p.291</ref>

Three men are walking side-by-side holding papers. The first two are wearing a suit and the third is wearing a red sweater. The first man is smiling and flashing a V sign.

Ion Iliescu (center) with FSN members Dumitru Mazilu (left) and Petre Roman (right) on 23 December 1989, one day after the formation of the FSN.

Interim government

On 27 December, the FSN decreed the abolition of the one-party system and called for free elections.<ref name=roper66>Roper, p. 66</ref> Shortly afterwards, two major political parties claiming to be the successors of the two most important pre-Communist Romanian parties, more specifically the National Peasants' Party (PNŢ) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), were founded and registered.

At first, the FSN announced that it would not be nominating candidates in the forthcoming elections.<ref name=roper66/> However, Silviu Brucan then launched the concept of the big party and supported the transformation of the FSN into a political party.<ref>Vladimir Tismăneanu, Dubioasa convertire a lui Silviu Brucan ("The Dubious Conversion of Silviu Brucan") Template:Webarchive, in Revista 22, 29 September 2006</ref> Some members of FSN, like Dumitru Mazilu, Mircea Dinescu, Ion Caramitru, Andrei Pleșu, Dan Hăulică, Gabriel Liiceanu, or Doina Cornea resigned before FSN became a political party.<ref>Pamfletarul Dinescu agită apele din Alianță Template:Webarchive, Evenimentul Zilei, 8 May 2006</ref><ref>"Doina Cornea s-a retras din Consiliul Naţional al F.S.N." ("Doina Cornea has resigned from the National Council of the F.S.N."), România Liberă, 24 January 1990</ref>

On 6 February 1990, the FSN, transformed itself into a political party, in order to be able to run in the upcoming elections. Except for a few newspapers, FSN had extensive control over the Romanian mass-media, particularly the state owned television company and the newly founded Adevărul newspaper.<ref name=roper66/>

Anti-FSN demonstrations were mounted by the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚ-CD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL) in late January and late February 1990, that degenerated into violence against state authorities. In turn, Iliescu called on the working class to support the FSN against what he noted as "fascist forces, trying to destabilise the country". This has resulted in what were named the first and second Mineriads.

FSN agreed to allow other parties to participate in the provisional government. The new governing body, the Provisional Council of National Unity (Template:Langx, CPUN), still dominated by FSN, would run the country from early February 1990 until the elections.<ref name=roper66/>

Another, much larger, demonstration (the Golaniad) against FSN's participation in the elections was organised in April 1990 and lasted 52 days, until 13–15 June, when it was violently dispersed by the third Mineriad.<ref name="Roper, p.68">Roper, p.68</ref>

First elected government

The FSN had strong support among the peasants and the urban industrial workers, while the PNL and PNŢCD had strong support among the intellectuals in urban areas.<ref>Roper, p.67</ref>

As popular anger was directly primarily at the Ceaușescu family, the FSN benefited from the institutional links of the disbanded Communist Party and needed no specific program in order to win the elections, being a catch-all party.<ref name="Roper, p.68"/>

FSN and its candidate Ion Iliescu comfortably won the legislative and presidential elections on 20 May 1990, obtaining a majority in both the Assembly of Deputies and the Senate. Petre Roman remained Prime Minister, and its government started cautious economic reforms.

Breakup

File:FSN logo 1992-1993.png

The logo of the FSN between 1992 and 1993, used during the presidency of Petre Roman

After growing tensions between Iliescu and Roman, on 7 April 1992, Iliescu and many other members left the FSN and created the Democratic National Salvation Front (Template:Langx, FDSN), which eventually developed to be the current Social Democratic Party (Template:Langx, PSD).<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Petre Roman remained leader of the FSN. On 28 May 1993, the party was renamed Democratic Party – National Salvation Front (Template:Langx, PD-FSN), before shortening its name to Democratic Party (PD) in 1998.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Legacy

The National Salvation Front (FSN) has had a major impact on post-1989 Romanian politics. The two parties that emerged from the National Salvation Front (FSN), more specifically the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), the latter which ultimately merged into the National Liberal Party (PNL) in 2014, governed or participated in government coalitions from 1990 until today.

The former President Traian Băsescu entered politics as an FSN member and served as Minister of Transportation in several FSN governments. Băsescu, stemming as a presidential candidate from the Democratic Party (PD), as part of the Justice and Truth Alliance (DA), remarked rhetorically in a live TV debate with Adrian Năstase, stemming from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), before the 2004 run-off presidential election: "You know what Romania's greatest curse is right now? It's that Romanians have to choose between two former Communist Party (PCR) members."

Election results

Legislative elections

Election	Chamber			Senate			Position	Aftermath
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
1990	9,089,659	66.31	Template:Composition bar	9,353,006	67.02	Template:Composition bar	1st	Template:Yes2
								Template:Yes2
1992	1,101,425	10.17	Template:Composition bar	1,133,355	10.38	Template:Composition bar	3rd	Template:No2

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	Votes	%	Position
1990	Template:Yes2	12,232,498	85.07	1st
1992	Template:No2	564,655	4.7	4th

Bibliography

• Dan Pavel, Iulia Huia, <<Nu putem reuşi decît împreună.>> O istorie analitică a Convenţiei Democratice, 1989-2000, Editura Polirom, Iaşi, 2003.
• Steven D. Roper, Romania: The Unfinished Revolution, Routledge, 2000, Template:ISBN
• Dennis Deletant, Ceaușescu and the Securitate: Coercion and Dissent in Romania, 1965–1989, M.E. Sharpe, London, 1995, Template:ISBN.