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.

[2] From 1988 to 1990, a period that spanned the Romanian Revolution, he trained as an engineer at an insulation factory in Târgu Secuiesc.

From 2001 to 2002, he sat on the PNL's permanent central bureau and, in 2002, joined the party's public administration committee.

[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.

[14] In October 2019, after the fall of Viorica Dăncilă's government, President Klaus Iohannis designated Orban as prime minister.

The Social Democrats (PSD) voted in favor of the cabinet, given the emergency circumstances, while pledging concerted opposition.

During the campaign, he staked out a liberal conservative position, emphasizing a commitment to traditional values and rejecting what he termed "neo-Marxist progressivism".

[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.