New Parliament leaders and new Constitutional Court judges

The two chambers of Parliament have new speakers as of Tuesday.

Ştefan Stoica, 25.06.2025, 13:50

With the governing coalition in Bucharest becoming official, a coalition that includes pro-Western parties, and with the installation of the new government (PSD – PNL – USR – UDMR) changes at the top of Parliament were needed. The interim leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Ilie Bolojan, became prime minister and thus left the position of Senate speaker vacant. The position of speaker of the Chamber of Deputies also became vacant, with the social democrat Ciprian Şerban taking over the Transport Ministry. According to the political agreement, the interim leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Sorin Grindeanu, was voted speaker of the Chamber of Deputies. He said that he wanted the parliamentarians to come up with legislative proposals that should take into account the current financial constraints.

Sorin Grindeanu: “I have called on my colleagues in Parliament to try to have initiatives during this period that can be covered by the budget, to try to think about the measures related to this aspect, which represents an important component during this period. I assure you that I will be able to maintain the balance between power and opposition, which is extremely important in the Romanian Parliament.”

In the Senate, Ilie Bolojan was replaced by another liberal, Mircea Abrudan. He has given assurances that he will exercise his mandate responsibly: “I assure you that I will exercise this mandate, as I did during the three months of the interim period, with responsibility, with honesty, with openness, with transparency because I believe that the Romanian Senate is a place of dialogue, first and foremost, even when we have different opinions, especially when we have different opinions, and I believe that this is what we all need to do: to be responsible, to be open, to work for the citizens of Romania because this is the role of state institutions.”

The Chamber of Deputies and the Senate also appointed two judges to the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) for a nine-year term, replacing the magistrates whose term expires next month. In the Chamber, the plenary session validated the proposal of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) to appoint Csaba Asztalos to the CCR. A law graduate, he promised to respect the fundamental law, to promote the defense of fundamental rights and freedoms and to be a balanced person open to loyal cooperation between public authorities.

The Senate, in turn, validated the appointment of Mihai Busuioc to the Constitutional Court from the PSD. In his case, however, there were critical voices regarding a nomination that would not have respected the criterion of competence. Mihai Busuioc also held the position of President of the Court of Accounts, was Secretary General of the Government and headed the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration of Romania. He has stated that he is a balanced person, with legal training and knowledgeable about public administration, and during the hearings he said that the activity of the CCR could be consolidated including by increasing the number of assistant magistrates. Sorin Grindeanu admitted that, personally, he would have preferred the former Justice Minister, Robert Cazanciuc, to the CCR, but that the option of his social democratic colleagues was Busuioc. (LS)