In 1992 the CDR, of which the PNȚCD was a member, nominated him as its candidate for President of Romania. He lost the election to then incumbent Ion Iliescu after the second round. In 1996, he competed once again for the presidency as the CDR's candidate and managed to defeat Iliescu in the second round, securing a victory by a margin of roughly 10%. CDR's success in the 1996 general elections marked the first peaceful transition of power in post-1989 Romania. On the day he took office, he suspended his membership in the PNȚCD, as the Constitution precludes a president holding formal membership of a political party during his tenure. Nonetheless, throughout his four-year term, Constantinescu struggled with the slow implementation of the processes of modernization and privatization, which were bogged down by excessive bureaucracy. After another Mineriad which took place in 1999 and ended with the arrest of Miron Cozma, the remainder of his term suffered a political crisis between the majority parties that, at the time, formed the governing coalition. The country was further damaged by a drought in 2000. At the end of his term, he decided not to run for re-election.
After the presidency
Constantinescu's presidency along with CDR's governing were marred by an economic recession. Despite this, his presidency is now credited with putting an end to the Mineriads, a reform of the banking system, as well as with the attraction of the first major foreign investments in Romania. With dashed expectations of an immediate improvement in daily life, Romanians exhibited strong disillusionment with the major parties and politicians, with the Greater Romania Party gaining the second place in the 2000 elections. A disenchanted Emil Constantinescu, who lost popularity and had failed to fulfill his reformist agenda announced on 17 July 2000 that he would not run for a second term. He temporarily withdrew from political life at the end of his term in November 2000. Constantinescu's direction in foreign affairs continued however after the comeback of Ion Iliescu in 2000. Eventually, Romania joined NATO in 2004. The former President returned to the political scene in 2002 as head of the People's Action party, which subsequently merged within the National Liberal Party in 2008. Constantinescu has occasionally criticized the policies of the 2004–2009 president, Traian Băsescu, accusing him of authoritarian tendencies, and supported Crin Antonescu in the first round of the 2009 presidential elections. Nowadays, he still remains heavily involved in politics through working for many NGOs, both in Romania and internationally. Emil Constantinescu is the current president of the Association of Citizenship Education, of the Romanian Foundation for Democracy and also the founding president of the Institute for Regional Cooperation and Conflict Prevention. A frequent speaker at the Oslo Freedom Forum, in 2010 he presented the OFF with a presidential medal. He is also a member of the internationaladvisory council of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
