He was born in Sălciua, Alba County, and in 1967 completed secondary studies at the high school in Baia de Arieş.
Following the fall of the Communist regime, in 1991 he joined the PUNR, serving as its vice president from 1992 to 1997,[1] a period that included his first stint as Agriculture Minister from August 1994 to September 1996, during the time of the Red Quadrilateral.
As leader, he focused on concrete issues ranging from education to self-government of minorities, contrasting with his predecessor's vocal identity politics and in the process abandoning a means of competition with the Social Democrats, long installed as a moderate nationalist party.
[1] In 2002 he entered the PD (which evolved into the PD-L in 2008), serving on its permanent national bureau until 2004, and as vice president of its Timiș County chapter since then.
In the Chamber, he has served on the committees on agriculture, forestry, food industry and specific services (1992–1993, 1995-, including as president since 2008) and foreign policy (1993–1995).