Romanian Parliament Proposes Revising 30-Year-Old Constitution

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 07th December, 2021) Romanian lawmakers came out in favor on Monday of amending the country's constitution, adopted 30 years ago.

The constitution was adopted in December, 1991, two years after the fall of Nicolae Ceausescu, the last Romanian Communist leader, and was revised in 2003.

"Today we assess the constitution and everything that means the institutional organization of the Romanian statehood, reforms are inevitable because citizens want it. Constitutional norms will need to be brought into line with the reality in which we live," Florin Citu, the head of the upper house and the leader of the National Liberal Party, said at a special parliamentary hearing, as quoted by the Agerpres news agency.

He listed such amendments as lowering the voting age to 16, reform of the justice system, and clarification of the right to privacy.

Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party and chief of the lower chamber, supported Citu's statements.

"I believe that an effective government system is one that generates a mutual control between state powers and does not allow any institutional actor to concentrate power in its hands. Unfortunately, this fundamental principle has not always found its application in practice in Romania," Ciolacu said. "We need to think whether it is time to overcome the anguish of the communist dictatorship in regards to the state and the role of the president."

According to Csoma Botond, leader of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania in the lower chamber, which is part of the ruling coalition, constitutional amendments could include the transition from mixed government to a parliamentary republic.

The constitution can be revised by a presidential decree at the request of the government, a quarter of lawmakers, or at least 500,000 citizens. Amendments must be approved by two-thirds of lawmakers from both chambers before being put to a referendum.