Priorities on Parliament’s Agenda
In Bucharest Romanian MPs are discussing this years legal priorities.
Leyla Cheamil, 05.02.2013, 14:16
The revision of the Constitution, territorial reorganization, the adoption of the MP’s status are just a few of the priorities of the new parliamentary session in Bucharest. Both the power and the opposition have stated that they want to amend the fundamental law. However, this is all they seem to agree upon. The opposition Liberal Democratic Party claims the 2009 referendum should be observed, when people voted in favour of a single chamber parliament, with only 300 MPs.
The Social Liberal Union, on the other hand, stands for two chambers, with different responsibilities. Following last December’s elections, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies currently have a total of nearly 600 members. Another priority on Parliament’s agenda is the law on the status of the Romanian Member of Parliament, which President Traian Basescu sent back to Parliament.
He wants a reexamination of the provisions regarding incompatibility and conflict of interests, which, the president believes, run counter to the recommendations made by the European Commission in the recent justice report issued under the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. The president of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Social-Democrat Valeriu Zgonea, has stated that some of the president’s requests have already been complied with.
Valeriu Zgonea: “The Presidency has recommended that we talk with the National Integrity Agency and the Public Ministry to take these measures, and we have already done that. Also, we have discussed with NGOs, as recommended. Another recommendation regards the implementation of the Code of Conduct, which means that the steps we have taken have been the normal and correct ones. “
In another move, the MPs are to discuss territorial reorganization. A project initiated by the Liberal Democratic Party aims at replacing the existing 40 counties with 8 bigger ones. According to the proposal set forth by the Social Liberal Union, there should be 8 development regions, as compared to 16 such regions, as suggested by the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania.
Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has stressed that this reorganization must be made in 2013 and, in the absence of a regional organization recognized by the Constitution, the absorption of European funds will no longer be possible in the 2014-2020 budget framework. If implemented, this administrative reorganization would be the first since 1968.
