Talks on the modification of the Constitution

The modification of the Constitution was the subject of speeches held in the solemn meeting of the Romanian Parliament, 30 years after the adoption of the Fundamental Law.

Daniela Budu, 07.12.2021, 14:00

The Senate and the Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest on Monday, marked, in a solemn session, 30 years since the adoption of the Constitution, the act that established the reinstatement of a constitutional democracy in Romania and consolidated the pluralist political regime. The governing coalition made up of PNL-PSD-UDMR (the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania) has asked for a constitutional reform that should reflect changes that have occurred in the Romanian society.

According to the coalition leaders, a new constitution should clarify the prerogatives of the president, among other things, and should ensure a balance of power in the state. The Speaker of the Senate, Florin Cîţu, the leader of the PNL, said that the liberals have on their agenda measures to revise the fundamental law, which take into account the options expressed by the citizens. He referred to the implementation of the results of the 2019 referendum on justice or the reduction of the voting age to 16.

Florin Cîțu: “In time, with professionalism, without political passion and hidden interests, we will have to modernize the state structures, the way they work and how they serve the citizen. The constitutional norms will have to be adjusted to the reality we live in.”

In his turn, the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Marcel Ciolacu, the PSD leader, said that the constitutional reform should clarify the prerogatives of the countrys president and ensure mutual control between the state powers. At the same time, he considers it necessary to limit the use of emergency ordinances, but also to redefine the role of the motion of no confidence.

Marcel Ciolacu: “The motion of no confidence must automatically lead to the appointment of another prime minister. We would not have been in this situation of having no government for two months if we had had this instrument in the Constitution.”

UDMR, a partner in the governing coalition, wants the relationship of trust between the Romanian state and the national minorities to be strengthened and pleads for the transition to a parliamentary republic. This idea has been criticized by the USR representatives, while the Alliance for the Union of Romanians – AUR parliamentarians do not agree with the modification of the current Constitution. Attending the solemn session, the Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said that it was necessary to continue reforming the state and the public administration in order to focus on the citizens and to increase the responsibility of those who hold public office.

In turn, the President of the Constitutional Court, Valer Dorneanu, said that the revision of the fundamental law must be done wisely, not for electoral interests. The Romanian Constitution, the first after 1989, when the communist dictatorship was removed from power, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly (the then Parliament) on November 21, 1991, after a year and a half of debates. On December 8 of the same year, the Fundamental Law was approved through National Referendum. (LS)