Politics of Romania

Romania
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Romania
Constitution Referendums 1991 (adoption) 2003 (amendments) 2015 (amendments) Constitutional Court
Government President (list) Klaus Iohannis Prime Minister (list) Viorica Dăncilă Cabinet (current list)
Parliament Senate President: Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Standing Bureau Chamber of Deputies President: Liviu Dragnea Standing Bureau
Judiciary High Court of Cassation and Justice Constitutional Court Ombudsman Judicial reform
Political parties Parliamentary Social Democratic Party (PSD) National Liberal Party (PNL) Save Romania Union (USR) Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) People's Movement Party (PMP) Other ethnic-minority parties Non-parliamentary United Romania Party(PRU) Greater Romania Party (PRM) Green Party (PV)
Elections Permanent Electoral Authority Recent elections Presidential: 2014 2009 2004 Legislative: 2016 2012 2008 Local: 2016 2012 2008 2004 European: 2014 2009 2007
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Foreign relations China European Union NATO Moldova unification movement Russia Embassies
Politicians Heads of state National Salvation Front Council members Presidents by time in office Prime Ministers Ministers of Finance
Other countries Atlas
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Romania's political framework is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic where the Prime Minister is the head of government and the President is the head of state. Executive power is exercised by the President of the republic and the government. Romania has a multi-party system, with legislative power vested in the government and the two chambers of Parliament: the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

Romania's 1991 constitution (amended in 2003) proclaims it a democratic and social republic, deriving its sovereignty from the people. According to the constitution, "Human dignity, civic rights and freedoms, the unhindered development of human personality, justice, and political pluralism are supreme and guaranteed values."

The constitution provides for a President, a Parliament, a Constitutional Court and a separate court system which includes the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The right to vote is granted to all citizens over 18 years of age.

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Romania as a "flawed democracy" in 2016.^[1]

Executive branch[edit]

Klaus Iohannis, President of Romania since 21 December 2014

The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms (four-year terms until 2004). S/he is head of state (charged with safeguarding the constitution, foreign affairs, and the proper functioning of public authority), supreme commander of the armed forces and chairperson of the Supreme Council of National Defense. According to the constitution, s/he acts as a mediator among the state's power centers and between the state and society. The president nominates the prime minister after consultation with the party holding an absolute majority in Parliament or, if there is no such majority, with all the parties in Parliament.

Ambiguity in the Constitution of Romania (Article 85 (1), Article 103 (1))^[2] may lead to situations where a coalition of parties obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament, or a party holding a relative majority in Parliament, would be unable to nominate a prime minister because the president would refuse the nomination (with no party holding an absolute majority in Parliament). According to Article 103(1), "unless no such majority exists", interpreted by the president as "unless no such party exists" (although an absolute majority may be formed by one party, a coalition of parties or an alliance).

In the 2008 parliamentary elections,^[3] the Alliance PSD+PC won 33.09 percent of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 34.16 percent of the seats in the Senate. The PNL won 18.57 percent of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 18.74 percent of the seats in the Senate, giving both parties a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. However, the president nominated a member of the PDL (which won less than 32.36 percent of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 33.54 percent of the seats in the Senate. The nominated prime minister chooses the other members of the government, and the government and its program must be confirmed by a vote of confidence from Parliament.

Legislative branch[edit]

The national legislature is a bicameral parliament (Romanian: Parlament), consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Camera Deputaților) and the Senate (Senat). Members are elected to four-year terms by universal suffrage in a party-list proportional representation electoral system. Beginning in 2008, members are elected by mixed member proportional representation.

The number of senators and deputies has varied in each legislature, reflecting changes in population. In 2008, there were 137 senatorial seats and 334 seats in the Chamber of Deputies; of the 334 deputy seats, 18 were held by the ethnic minorities representatives which would not meet the five-percent electoral threshold required for other parties and organizations.

Classification of political parties[edit]

Romania has a multiparty system, which makes a majority government virtually impossible; small parliamentary parties have merged with larger ones. Currently, there are six main parliamentary parties (excluding the 17 ethnic-minority parties which have one representative each):

The main non-parliamentary parties (around the five-percent threshold) with local representatives are:

Unlike other former Soviet-bloc countries, no party claiming to be the successor of the Communist Party of Romania is a significant player on the political scene.

Latest elections[edit]

Presidential election[edit]

The last presidential election was held on 2 and 16 November 2014.

European Parliament election[edit]

The last European Parliamentary election was held on 25 May 2014.

e • d Summary of the June 2014 European Parliament election results in Romania

Party				No. of Candidates	Votes	Elected	Change in seats	% of seats	% of votes
National Party		EU Party	EP Group
	Social Democratic Union (Uniunea Social Democrată) Social Democratic Party (Partidul Social Democrat) Conservative Party (Partidul Conservator) National Union for the Progress of Romania (Uniunea Naţională pentru Progresul României)	PES	S&D	42	2,093,237	16	5	50%	37.60%
	National Liberal Party (Partidul Naţional Liberal)	ALDE	ALDE Group	42	835,531	6	1		15.00%
	Democratic Liberal Party[a] (Partidul Democrat Liberal)	EPP	EPP Group	42	680,853	5	5		12.23%
	Independent candidate: Mircea Diaconu	—	ALDE	1	379,582	1	1		6.81%
	Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (Uniunea Democrată a Maghiarilor din România)	EPP	EPP Group	41	350,689	2	1		6.29%
	People's Movement Party (Partidul Mișcarea Populară)[b]	—	EPP Group	41	345,973	2	2		6.21%
	People's Party – Dan Diaconescu (Partidul Poporului – Dan Diaconescu)	—	No MEPs		204,310	—	—		3.67%
	Greater Romania Party (Partidul România Mare)	—	NI		150,484	—	3		2.70%
	Civic Force (Forța Civică)	EPP (applied)	No MEPs		145,181	—	—		2.60%
	Ecologist Party of Romania (Partidul Ecologist Român)		No MEPs		64,232	—	—		1.15%
Total: 18,221,061 expected voters (turnout 5,911,794 – 32.44%)					4,899,383	32	1	100 %	100 %
Source: Summary of results

Notes

1. ^{^} Elena Băsescu re-joined PD-L after the exit-poll results where published in 2009.
2. ^{^} Defectors from Democratic Liberal Party.

Legislative election[edit]

The latest legislative election was held on 11 December 2016. In the two tables below are represented the results for both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies:

Chamber of Deputies[edit]

Seat distribution in the Senate of Romania after the 11 December 2016 legislative election:

  PSD: 67 seats

  ALDE: 9 seats

  UDMR: 9 seats

  USR: 13 seats

  PNL: 30 seats

  PMP: 8 seats

Seat distribution in the Chamber of Deputies of Romania after the 11 December 2016 legislative election:

  PSD: 154 seats

  ALDE: 20 seats

  UDMR: 21 seats

  National minorities: 17 seats

  USR: 30 seats

  PNL: 69 seats

  PMP: 18 seats

Senate[edit]

Local election[edit]

The latest general local election was held on 5 June 2016.

Judicial branch[edit]

The Romanian legal system, based on the Napoleonic Code, is inquisitorial. The judiciary is independent, and judges appointed by the president are not removable. The president and other judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for six-year terms, and may serve consecutive terms. Proceedings are public, except in special circumstances provided for by law.

Judicial power is vested in a hierarchical system of courts, culminating with the supreme court: Înalta Curte de Justiție și Casație (High Court of Cassation and Justice), whose judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Superior Council of Magistrates.

The Ministry of Justice represents the general interests of society and defends the rule of law and citizens' rights and freedoms. The ministry exercises its power through independent, impartial public prosecutors.

Constitutional issues[edit]

The Curtea Constituțională (Constitutional Court) judges issues of constitutionality invoked in any court and judges the compliance of laws (or other state regulations) with the Romanian Constitution. The court, outside the judicial branch, follows the tradition of the French Constitutional Council with nine judges serving nine-year, non-renewable terms. Since the 2003 revision of the constitution, its decisions cannot be overturned by parliamentary majority.

Regional institutions[edit]

Romanian political mechanism

For territorial and administrative purposes, Romania is divided into 41 counties (județe, singular județ) and the city of Bucharest. Each county is governed by an elected council. Local councils and elected mayors are the public authorities in villages and towns. The county council coordinates the activities of village and town councils.

The central government appoints a prefect for each county and Bucharest, who represents the government at the local level and directs the ministries and other central agencies at the county level. A prefect may block the action of a local authority if he deems it unlawful or unconstitutional, with the matter then adjudicated by an administrative court.

Under legislation enacted in January 1999, local councils control the spending of their allocations from the central government budget and have the authority to raise additional revenue locally. Although centrally-appointed prefects formerly had significant authority over the budget, this is now limited to a review of expenditures to determine their constitutionality.

Since 1989[edit]

Romania has made progress in institutionalizing democratic principles, civil liberties, and respect for human rights since the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Some present-day Romanian politicians are former members of the Romanian Communist Party. Since membership in the party was a requirement for advancement before 1989, many people joined to get ahead rather than because of ideological conviction; however, the Communist past of some Romanian politicians remains controversial.

1990–1992[edit]

February, 1990 Mineriad taking place near Victoria Palace in Bucharest.

Over 200 new political parties sprang up after 1989, most gravitating to leaders rather than programs. All major parties espoused democracy and market reforms in varying degrees. The largest party by far, the governing National Salvation Front (FSN), proposed slow, cautious economic reforms and a social safety net. The main opposition parties, the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD), favored rapid, sweeping reform, immediate privatization, and a reduction in the role of former Communist Party members. The Communist Party ceased to exist.

In the 1990 presidential and legislative elections, the FSN and its presidential candidate, Ion Iliescu, won with a large majority of the votes (67.02 and 85.07 percent, respectively). The strongest opposition parties in the Senate were the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), with 7.20 percent, and the National Liberal Party (PNL) with 7.06 percent.

After FSN Prime Minister Petre Roman's dismissal a few months before the 1992 general elections (following a late-1991 Mineriad), the FSN split in two. President Iliescu's supporters formed a new party, the Democratic National Salvation Front (FDSN), and Roman's supporters retained the FSN name.

1992–1996[edit]

The 1992 local, legislative, and presidential elections indicated a political rift between urban centres and the countryside. Rural voters, grateful for the restoration of most agricultural land to farmers but fearful of change, strongly favored President Iliescu and the FDSN; the urban electorate favored the CDR (a coalition of several parties – the strongest of which were the PNŢCD and the PNL – and civic organizations) and quicker reform. Iliescu easily won reelection from a field of five other candidates, and the FDSN won a plurality in both chambers of parliament.

With the CDR, the second-largest parliamentary group, reluctant to participate in a national-unity coalition, the FDSN (now the PDSR) formed a government under Prime Minister and economist Nicolae Văcăroiu with parliamentary support from the nationalist Romanian National Unity Party (PUNR) and Greater Romania Party (PRM), and the Socialist Workers' Party (PSM). In January 1994, the governing coalition's stability became problematic when the PUNR threatened to withdraw its support unless it received cabinet portfolios. After intense negotiations, two PUNR members received cabinet portfolios in the Văcăroiu government in August. The following month, the incumbent justice minister also joined the PUNR. The PRM and the PSM left the coalition in October and December 1995, respectively.

1996–2000[edit]

The 1996 local elections indicated a major shift in the political orientation of the Romanian electorate, with opposition parties sweeping Bucharest and most of the larger cities in Transylvania and Dobruja. The trend continued in that year's legislative and presidential elections, when the opposition dominated the cities and made strong inroads into rural areas previously dominated by President Iliescu and the PDSR (which lost many voters in their traditional stronghold constituencies outside Transylvania). The opposition campaign emphasized the need to squelch corruption and introduce economic reform. This message resonated with voters, resulting in a historic victory for the CDR coalition and the election of Emil Constantinescu as president. To secure its electoral majority, the CDR invited Petre Roman's Democratic Party (the former FSN) and the UDMR (representing the Hungarian minority) to join the government. Although over the next four years Romania had three prime ministers (and despite internal frictions), the governing parties preserved their coalition and initiated a series of needed reforms.

2000–2004[edit]

The coalition lost the first round of presidential elections in November 2000 as a result of popular dissatisfaction with infighting among the parties during the preceding four years and the economic hardship brought about by structural reforms. In the second round Iliescu, running again as the Social Democratic Party (PSD) candidate, won by a wide margin over extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM) candidate Corneliu Vadim Tudor. Iliescu appointed Adrian Năstase prime minister. In Parliament the PSD government (like its predecessor) relied on the support of the UDMR, which did not join the Cabinet but negotiated annual packages of legislation and other measures favoring Romania's ethnic Hungarians.

Năstase, in his four years as prime minister, continued the previous government's pro-Western foreign policy. The period was characterized by a political stability unprecedented in post-communist Romania and consistent economic growth. Romania joined NATO in spring 2004 and signed an accession treaty to join the EU. However, the PSD government was plagued by allegations of corruption which would be significant factors in its defeat in local and national elections in 2004.

In September, 2003 the Democratic Party (PD) and National Liberal Party (PNL) formed an electoral alliance, the Justice and Truth (DA) Alliance, as a mainstream opposition bloc to the ruling PSD. The DA Alliance agreed, among other measures, to vote as a bloc in parliament and local councils and run common candidates in national and local elections. In October 2003, the country held a referendum on several constitutional amendments deemed necessary for EU accession. The amendments included provisions to allow foreigners to own land in Romania and to change the president's term from four to five years.

2004–2008[edit]

In 2004 Traian Băsescu, leader of the Democratic Party (PD), won the presidential election by a narrow margin. Băsescu appointed former liberal leader Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu prime minister, who headed a government composed of the PNL, PD, UDMR, and the Conservative Party (formerly the Humanist Party). To secure a parliamentary majority, the coalition government relied on the support of 18 parliamentary seats reserved for ethnic-minority representatives.

The government's narrow majority in Parliament led to calls for early elections. In July 2005 Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu voiced plans to resign, prompting new elections; he then backtracked, noting his and the cabinet's need to focus on relief efforts for summer floods. During its first year the government was also tested by a successfully-resolved hostage crisis involving three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Iraq and avian influenza in several parts of the country, transmitted by wild birds migrating from Asia.

The government's overriding objective was the accession of Romania to the European Union, and on 1 January 2007 Romania became the 26th member of the EU. The government also maintained good relations with the U.S., signing an agreement in December 2005 which would allow U.S. troops to train and serve at several Romanian military facilities. Băsescu and Popescu-Tăriceanu pledged to combat high-level corruption and implement broader reform to modernize sectors such as the judicial system and health care.

On 19 April 2007, Parliament suspended President Băsescu on charges of unconstitutional conduct. The suspension, passed by a 322–108 vote, opened the way for a national referendum on impeachment^[6] which failed.

2008–2012[edit]

The 2013 protests against the Roșia Montană Project turned into an anti-government social movement.

The November 2008 parliamentary elections were close, with the Social Democrats (PSD) winning 33.9 percent of the vote, President Traian Băsescu's centre-right Liberal Democrats (PDL) taking 32.34 percent, and the ruling National Liberals (PNL) receiving 18.6 percent.^[7] The Liberal Democrats and Social Democrats formed a coalition after the election. Former prime minister Theodor Stolojan withdrew his candidacy for the premiership and President Băsescu nominated Emil Boc, president of the Liberal Democrats, as prime minister.

With the onset of the Great Recession, the Romanian political scene saw tensions between the president and prime minister and between the general population and both. Tensions escalated with a 2012 political crisis and another attempt to impeach President Băsescu. In the referendum, more than 7.4 million people (nearly 90 percent) supported Băsescu's removal from office. However, the Constitutional Court invalidated the referendum because the majority of the population did not vote (the voter turnout was 46%); Băsescu had called the referendum a coup d'état, and asked the public to boycott it. All these events have been heavily criticized by international political figures.^{[citation needed]}

2012–2016[edit]

The legislative elections of 9 December 2012 were seen by the public as an opportunity for change and to oust Băsescu. The Social Liberal Union received a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (60.07 and 58.61 percent of the vote, respectively) and a record 395 seats. The new prime minister, Victor Ponta, quickly formed a government but the failure to adopt reforms quickly triggered a wave of protests against a government seen as not fulfilling the promises of the 2012 electoral campaign. Two other projects of national interest (shale drilling and the Roșia Montană mining project) unleashed more protests. The demonstrations, initially ecological in focus, became anti-government protests.

In early 2014, the PNL broke away from the USL and entered opposition. Along with the PDL, the PNL formed the Christian Liberal Alliance in order to support the candidature of Klaus Johannis as president of Romania and later agreed on a future merger that would retain the name of the National Liberal Party. Johannis won a surprise victory in front of then incumbent PM Victor Ponta in the second round of the 2014 presidential elections, by a margin of 54.43%. Voters abroad were very angry because of the fact that they were not all given the right to cast their ballots, which represented one of the key reasons for Ponta's defeat. In late 2015, another series of nationwide protests ultimately prompted Prime Minister Victor Ponta's resignation. Shortly afterwards, President Johannis appointed then independent politician Dacian Cioloș as Prime Minister, who was briefly in charge of a technocratic government between late 2015 and early 2017.

2016–present[edit]

Protest banner displayed on 5 February, 2017 in Bucharest. The caption reads: 'I am their father', ironically (but accurately) linking former state president Ion Iliescu to, among others, current ruling political leaders Liviu Dragnea and Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu.

The legislative elections of 11 December, 2016 saw a predictable comeback of the PSD as the major party in the Romanian Parliament, as most opinion polls gave them an electoral score of at least 40%. Alongside ALDE, the PSD formed a governing coalition under Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu.

In early 2017, a series of massive nationwide protests (the greatest in Romania's history) prompted the government's resignation and early elections because of the government's secret procedure of giving an ordinance modifying the Penal Code and Penal Procedure Code on the night of January 31. The PM and government refused to resign but nonetheless decided to withdraw the decrees that started the protests on February 5, at the protests' peak.

Approximately four months later, tensions arose between PM Sorin Grindeanu and PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, which ultimately resulted in the loss of political support for the government on behalf of the PSD-ALDE coalition. The PM refused to resign but was eventually dismissed by a motion of no confidence passed by the Parliament with 241 votes (233 minimum needed).

Quickly afterwards, Mihai Tudose was proposed by the socialists for the position of Prime Minister and was subsequently accepted by Iohannis. However, just after 6 months of governance, he resigned from this dignity. Consequently, the ruling coalition nominated a new Prime Minister candidate in the person of Viorica Dăncilă, a former socialist MEP in the 2014–19 who was also accepted by the state president.

All throughout this period of time marked by governmental mayhem produced by the ruling coalition regarding their change of PMs as well as their intentions of changing both the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code, the Romanian society took to the streets of Bucharest and many other major cities of the country in huge numbers for more than 500 consecutive days in order to oppose the modification of these law packages, prompt early elections, as well as a referendum on the topic of justice.

Participation in international organizations[edit]

Romania participates in the following international organisations:

ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CE, CEI, CPLP (associate member), EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EEA, EU, FAO, Francophonie. G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), Latin Union, MONUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NSG, OAS (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, SECI, SEECP, SPSEE, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UPU, WCL, WCO, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO, Zangger Committee

See also[edit]

• European Union
• Human rights in Romania
• Military of Romania
• Relations of Romania with Moldova
• Movement for unification of Romania and Moldova
• Foreign relations of Romania

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• List of Romanian Embassies
• World Statesmen: Romania, including a comprehensive list of princes, monarchs, prime ministers, etc.
• Erik Herron's Guide to Politics of East Central Europe and Eurasia

Further reading[edit]

• John Hickman and Chris Little, "Seat/Vote Proportionality in Romanian and Spanish Parliamentary Elections", Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans Volume 2, Number 2, November 2000.