Biography
He became well known for his very strong nationalist stance favoring ethnic Romanians in Cluj-Napoca, which is a multi-ethnic city with an ethnic Romanian majority (80.8%) and a significant ethnic Hungarian population (17.1%). Other ethnic groups include Roma and Germans. Cluj-Napoca is considered to be the capital city of Transylvania, a historical region within Romania and before that Hungary.
Funar was a candidate for presidency for the Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR) in 1992 and 1996. In 1997, after he was expelled from PUNR, he joined the far-right Greater Romania Party. Funar lost the Cluj-Napoca mayoral elections in the first round in 2004. Emil Boc of the Justice and Truth Alliance won the elections during the second round run-off elections against Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate Ioan Rus. He ran again in 2008, coming in fourth with 4.2% of the vote.
Funar is currently the General Secretary of the Greater Romania Party and is a Member of Parliament. Among his proposals in parliament is the distribution of Romanian-language Bibles to all citizens, and the raising of a statue of Mihai Eminescu in every commune.
He is married to Sabina Funar, a professor at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Cluj-Napoca.
Read more about this topic: Gheorghe Funar
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