The Political System Of Romania

Facts
Name: Romania Area: 237,500 sq. km Capital: Bucharest Independence: 1877 from Turkey; proclaimed a republic 30 December 1947 National Holiday: December 1 - Unification Day (of Romania and Transylvania) Constitution: 8 December 1991 Population: 22,760,449 ('92) est. 22, 395,848 ('98) Suffrage: Universal, 18 years of age required Ethnicity: Romanian (89%); Hungarian (7%); Roma (2%); German (>1%) Languages: Romanian, minority ethnic languages Religions: Christianity (87%); Roman Catholic (5%); Protestant; Muslims; Jews

Political system
The constitution declares Romania to be a parliamentary republic and provides for multiple political parties, a separation of powers between branches of government, a market economy and respect for human rights.

The President
The president of Romania is elected by direct, popular vote for a maximum of two fouryear terms. He or she represents the country in matters of foreign affairs and is the commander of the armed forces. According to the 1991 constitution, the president may not belong to any political party. President: Traian Basescu (since 12 December 2004)

Executive
The president appoints a prime minister to head the government; the prime minister is generally the leader of the party with the majority of seats in parliament. The prime minister is responsible for selecting a cabinet to help carry out the operations of government. Prime minister: Emil Boc (since 28 December 2008)

Legislative
Romania has a bicameral (two-chamber) parliament called the National Assembly. Its lower house, called the Chamber of Deputies, maintains 343 seats, of which 15 are reserved for ethnic minorities; the upper house, or Senate, has 143 seats. Members of both

houses of parliament are elected for four-year terms, according to a modified system of proportional representation.

Judiciary
The Supreme Court is Romania's highest judicial authority. Its members are appointed by the president at the proposal of the Superior Council of Magistrates. In each of Romania's 40 counties and in the special district of Bucharest there is a county court and several lower courts, or courts of first instance. The country also has 15 circuits of appellate courts, in which appeals against sentences passed by local courts are heard; there is a right of appeal from the appellate courts to the Supreme Court. Romania has a Constitutional Court, charged with ensuring a balance of power among the organs of government. The procurator-general is the highest judicial official in Romania, and is responsible to the National Assembly, which appoints him or her for a four-year term. The death penalty was abolished in December 1989 and is forbidden by the 1991 constitution.

The Parliament of Romania

The Parliament of Romania is made up of two chambers: The Chamber of Deputies The Senate

Prior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses. If the text differed, a special commission was formed by deputies and senators, that "negotiated" between the two houses the form of the future law. The report of this commission had to be approved in a joint session of the Parliament. After the 2003 referendum, a law still has to be approved by both houses, but each house has designated matters it gets to deliberate before the other, in capacity of "The Deciding Chamber" . If that first chamber adopts a law proposal (relating to its competences), it is passed on to the other one, which can approve or reject. If it makes amendments, the bill is sent back to the deciding chamber, the decision of which is final. In 2009, a referendum was held to consult the population about turning the parliament into a unicameral body and reducing the number of representatives to 300. Although the referendum passed, the results are not binding, a referendum explicitly mentioning the modification of the constitution being required to achieve this. History The parliamentary history of Romania starts in May 1831 in Wallachia, where a constitutional document was adopted: "The Organic Statute" or "The Organic Regulation"; less than a year later, in January 1832, this same statute was implemented in Moldavia. The

organic regulation laid the foundations for the parliamentary institution in the Romanian Principalities. The Paris Convention of 19 August 1858 and, especially, "The Expanding Statute" of that convention (which introduced a bicameral parliament, by founding Corpul Ponderator, later renamed Senat), adopted on the initiative of prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza by means of a plebiscite in 1864, perfected and enlarged the principle of national representation. Under the political regime established by the Paris Convention, the legislative power faced an obvious process of modernization, and the legislative power as National Representation, which in Western Europe at that time. The historical process of formation of the Parliament of Romania in the modern age strongly boosted the affirmation of national sovereignty, subsequently leading to the Union of the two Principalities, in 1859. Under the dome of the Romanian Parliament, on 9 May 1877, the Declaration of Romania's Independence was read, and, in 1920, the documents of union with Transylvania and Bessarabia under the Treaty of Trianon were read, the formal beginning of Greater Romania. In February 1938, amid the rather chaotic European political association that eventually led to World War II, King Carol II, who always tended to favor his own personal rule over parliamentarism, imposed a rule of authoritarian monarchy. Under the royal dictatorship, the parliament became merely a decorative body, deprived of its main attributes. Carol abdicated in September 1940, and the succeeding National Legionary State suspended parliament. The National Legionary State as such lasted less than five months, but it was succeeded by Ion Antonescu 's military dictatorship, and parliament remained suspended. After 23 August 1944, under the pressure of Soviet and other communist forces, the parliament was re-organized as a single legislative body , the Assembly of Deputies, changed under the 1948 constitution, into the Great National Assembly, a merely formal body, totally subordinate to the power of the Romanian Communist Party. The Romanian Revolution of December in1989 opened the road for Romanians to restore authentic pluralistic electoral democracy, respecting human rights, and observing the separation of powers and the rulers' responsibility before representative bodies. Thanks to the documents issued by the provisional revolutionary power, Romania has returned to a bicameral parliamentary system. All these stipulations can be found in the country's new Constitution, approved by referendum in 1991. During more than a decade of post-communist transition, the Chamber of Deputies and Senate debated and adopted numerous laws and regulations aimed at reforming the entire

society on a democratic basis, guaranteeing respect of fundamental human rights, promoting reform and privatization, consolidating market economic institutions and those of a state ruled by law, which led to Romania's integration into such institutions at NATO and the European Union. Functioning Prior to the modifications of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses. If the text differed, a special commission (comisie de mediere) was formed by deputies and senators, that "negotiated" between the two houses the form of the future law. The report of this commission had to be approved in a joint session of the Parliament. This French procedure proved to be extremely long and inefficient with respect to the expectations of the Romanians towards democracy. After the 2003 referendum, a law still has to be approved by both houses, but in some matters one is "superior" to the other, being called "decision chamber" ("camer decizional"). This eliminates the process of "negotiation" between the two houses, and keeps the Senateas the Upper House and the Chamber as the Lower House.

The Government of Romania

The Government of Romania forms one half of the country's executive branch (the other half being the President). It is headed by the Prime-Minister, and consists of the Ministries, various subordinated institutions and agencies, and the 42 Prefectures. The seat of the Romanian Government is at Victoria Palace in Bucharest. Investiture The procedure of investing a new Government is initiated by the President, who designates a candidate to the office of Prime Minister after consulting the party which holds a majority of seats in Parliament. If no such majority exists, the President consults all the parties represented in Parliament. Once nominated, the candidate establishes a list of members and a government platform; this is to be done in 10 days. The 10-day interval is not a strict deadline, rather it represents the time period deemed optimal to establish a competent legal Government. The expiry of this interval allows the President to revoke the candidate and designate a new one, though this is not mandatory. Once the candidate has formed a list and a program, he can ask for the Parliament's vote of confidence. The Parliament debates upon the matter in joint sitting, and can only reject proposals twice in a span of 60 days. If Parliament fails to approve a candidate within this time period, the President gains the right to dissolve it.

Should the Parliament grant its vote of confidence, the proposed political platform becomes official, and the full list of Government must be confirmed by the President. The Government is then sworn in and begins its term. Structure The Constitution of Romania provides for two basic types of members, namely ministers and the Prime Minister. The statute of additional members is established by organic law. Current legislation establishes the positions of deputy prime minister , state minister and ministers delegated with special tasks "State minister" is a senior position, the holder of which coordinates the activity of various ministries under the direction of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the leader of Government and coordinates its activity. The working apparatus of the Government consists of the Prime-Minister's office, the General Secretariat of the Government and other departments and structures established through Government Decisions. The Prime Minister's office itself consists of the Prime Minister's Cabinet, the body of his state-secretaries and state-counselors, and the Prime Minister's Registry. Role The role of the Government is sanctioned by the Constitution and by relevant laws. The Government exercises "general leadership of the public administration, elaborates strategies to implement the government platform, exercises legislative initiative, negotiates international treaties, represents the Romanian state both internally and externally, names prefects and presents information and documents to the Chambers of Parliament as requested. Relations with the Parliament The Government answers exclusively to Parliament, both through compulsory information of Parliament and through questions, interpellations and inquiry committees. A Chamber of Parliament (Chamber of Deputies or Senate) may carry a simple motion with regards to the subject matter of an interpellation. In extreme cases, the Parliament may vote a motion of censure, withdrawing its confidence and forcing the Government to resign. Through a special habilitation law, the Government may be enabled to issue ordinances, which have the same legal force as ordinary laws. Ordinances are a form of legislative delegation, and may require approval in Parliament if the habilitation law states so. In extraordinary situations, in which regulation cannot be postponed, the Government may

issue emergency ordinances, which do not require habilitation laws but must be subjected to approval in Parliament before coming into force.