[11] Since the events of December 1989, which led to the fall of the communist regime, Romania has undergone one of the most problematic transformations from the socialist planned economy to neoliberal capitalism in Central and Eastern Europe.

After the adoption of the first and only post-communist constitution in 1991, Romania was subject to social unrest; austerity, deregulation and privatization made poverty rates, unemployment and inflation soar, and street riots were quelled on several occasions by the intervention of guard brigades of mine workers, with the last such occuerence taking place as late as in 1999.

The economic neoliberal reforms that picked up pace after the fall of Ion Iliescu and his Social Democratic Party from power further fuelled dissent and caused a spectacular rise in nationalism and populism in Romanian politics.

[12] Populists that emerged on the Romanian political scene denounced impoverished, corruption, privatization as well as abuses of power that were brough about by the capitalist reforms, and called for justice against the establishment that they blamed for the injustice caused by the transition.

[12] The Greater Romania Party managed to unite both nationalist and socialist voters, focusing on the exclusion of the poor from the mainstream society while also decrying the "huge theft" of national assets that had been privatized.

Its government took drastic austerity measures, bringing back the social discontent of the 1990s and causing the voters to turn away from the party.

[13] The origins of the party date back to 2010, when Diaconescu was arrested in June 2010 together with his OTV co-worker Doru Pârv.

Both men were accused of blackmailing a town mayor with evidence of corruption, and demanding a payment of €200,000 in exchange for staying silent.

The party proposed populist and social-oriented policies that would help the poorest and protect disadvantaged social groups from the financial crisis and its effects.

He denounced the "theft of the national fortune" that he defined as privatization, protested restructuring of state-owned enterprises, called for the defense of workers' and trade unions' rights, and strongly rejected the austerity measures proposed by the International Monetary Fund, an organization which Diaconescu considered a "foreign intruder".

The party also supported the collectivization of agriculture and the foundation of state companies with directly elected leadership, and sought a People's Tribunal.

[16] The PP-DD called its own program "The 100 Points of the New Revolution", and made the socialist, revolutionary language a key element of its electoral message.

Țăranu and Nicolescu noted that for example, the PP-DD argued that the "country" should belong to the people in terms of collective property, while the "state" is owned by the corrupt and wealthy few; this leads to the situation where the "country" composed of the proletariat is alienated by the "state" led by the bourgeoisie, and must overthrow them.