Neculai Onțanu
Mayor of Bucharest's Sector 2
In office
18 June 2000 – 23 March 2016
Preceded byVladimir Popescu
Succeeded byMihai Toader
Personal details
Born (1949-09-13) September 13, 1949
Pângărați, Neamț County, Romania
Political partyRomanian Communist Party (?–1989)
Socialist Party of Labour (?–1999)
Social Democratic Party (1999–2009)
National Union for the Progress of Romania (2010–2016)
Children2
Military service
RankMajor general

Neculai Onțanu (born September 13, 1949) is a Romanian politician who has served as mayor of Bucharest's Sector 2.

Biography

Born in Pângărați, Neamț County, Onțanu worked as construction worker between 1968 and 1995, becoming a construction foreman on apartment buildings construction sites.[1] In 1986, he was admitted as part-time learner in the Ștefan Gheorghiu Academy, the university which trained cadres of the Communist Party of Romania.[2]

After the Romanian Revolution, Onțanu joined the Socialist Party of Labour, becoming its vicepresident, as well as the president of the Bucharest organization.[3] Between 1995 and 1996, he was a parliamentary expert at the Chamber of Deputies, while between 1996 and 2000, he was a member of the General Council of Bucharest.[1] He resigned from the party in May 1999 and joined the Party of Social Democracy in Romania.[3]

Onțanu was the Party of Social Democracy in Romania's candidate during the 2000 local elections, which he won in the second round against Corina Mitrulescu, the candidate of the Democratic Convention of Romania.[4] He was re-elected in 2004 and 2008, being the candidate of the same Social-Democratic Party.[5]

In March 2007, Onțanu, who had not been active in the army beyond the mandatory military service, was promoted from being a first-class private to become a reserve colonel by an order of Minister of Defense Sorin Frunzăverde.[6] In December 2008, he was promoted by President Băsescu to become a one-star brigadier general.[7]

According to the CV published on the City Hall site, Onțanu gained in 2007 a PhD from the Leibniz University USA, an obscure unaccredited institution of higher education from the United States.[8]

In 2009, Onțanu defended his PhD thesis titled "The Management of Protecting Critical Infrastructure" at the National Intelligence Academy under the supervision of Gabriel Oprea, a personal friend and leader of UNPR.[2] In 2015, a Hotnews investigation found that dozens of pages of his thesis were identical to pages from other books and journals.[2]

On October 21, 2009, he was excluded from the Social-Democratic Party for publicly supporting Traian Băsescu for President of Romania.[9] The following day, President Băsescu increased the military rank of Onțanu, who thus became a two-star major general.[10]

Onțanu joined the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and in 2010 he was chosen to be the party's candidate for the Mayor of Bucharest elections,[11] but later the party decided to support Sorin Oprescu. Also in 2010, in the internal elections of UNPR, Onțanu was elected President of the Bucharest organization.[12]

On 23 March 2016 Neculai Onţanu was detained by prosecutors for 24 hours, being accused of having received bribes for restitution of 80,000 square meters of land.[13] He was convicted of bribery and, in 2021, received a three-year suspended sentence from the High Court of Cassation and Justice.[14]

Elections results

Year Party First round Second round Result
2000 Party of Social Democracy in Romania 39,856[4] 72,544 (54%)[4] won against Vladimir Popescu
2004 Social Democratic Party 47.48%[6] won against Anca Boagiu
2008 Social Democratic Party 57.31% – won from the first round
2012 National Union for the Progress of Romania 66,184 (62%)[15] won against Dragoș Frumosu

References

  1. 1 2 "Progresistul Neculai Onțanu, la al patrulea mandat la Primăria sectorului 2". Agerpres. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  2. 1 2 3 "Suspiciuni de plagiat in teza de doctorat a lui Neculai Onțanu, primarul Sectorului 2 și secretar general UNPR, care și-a facut lucrarea sub îndrumarea lui Gabriel Oprea". 2015-08-11. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  3. 1 2 "Alte știri". Ziarul de Iași. 1999-05-15. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  4. 1 2 3 "Alegerile locale din 2000 – AGERPRES". Agerpres. 2012-05-04. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  5. ↑ "Electoral 2004". www4.pmb.ro. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  6. 1 2 "Primarul Onțanu – avansat colonel in rezervă printr-un ordin al ministrului Apărării". Gândul. 2007-03-06. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  7. ↑ "Neculai Onțanu, Gabriel Oprea și Anghel Iordănescu au fost înaintați în grad de Traian Băsescu". Hotnews. 2009-10-23. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  8. ↑ "Doctoratele primarului Onțanu dispar rând pe rând. Și-a cumpărat generalul UNPR un doctorat pentru doar 100 de dolari?". Ziua News. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  9. ↑ "Onțanu, exclus din PSD". Mediafax. 2009-10-21. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  10. ↑ "Băsescu i-a înaintat în grad pe Onţanu, Anghel Iordănescu şi Gabriel Oprea". Mediafax. 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  11. ↑ "Neculai Onţanu va candida pentru Primăria Capitalei din partea UNPR". Mediafax. 2010-08-14. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  12. ↑ "Onţanu, ales preşedinte al UNPR București şi desemnat candidat pentru Primăria Capitalei". Mediafax. 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
  13. ↑ "DNA îl reține pe Neculai Onțanu pentru luare de mită și cere arest pentru 30 de zile". Revista 22. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-03-24.
  14. ↑ "Neculai Onţanu, condamnat definitiv la 3 ani cu suspendare pentru luare de mită". Digi24. 2021-04-13. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
  15. ↑ "REZULTATE FINALE BEM, SECTORUL 2: Onţanu – din nou primar". Mediafax. 2012-06-13. Retrieved 2015-09-05.
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