Senate of Romania

The Senate of Romania (Romanian: Senat) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 137 seats (as of 28 November 2004), to which members are elected by direct popular vote, using Mixed member proportional representation in 42 electoral districts (the 41 counties plus the city of Bucharest), to serve four-year terms.

History

Former location

After the Romanian Revolution of 1989, the Senate was housed in the "Palace of the Senate" (Romanian: Palatul Senatului), located in Revolution Square. That U-shaped structure was built from 1938 to 1941 under engineer Emil Prager's coordination, following the plans of architect Emil Nădejde. It housed the Council of Ministers and from 1958 to 1989 it was the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Romanian Communist Party. During the Revolution, Romanian President Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena fled by helicopter from the roof of the building. In 2005 Senators moved into the Palace of the Parliament, joining their colleagues from the Chamber of Deputies. "Palatul Senatului" now houses offices of the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

Composition

2008–present

In December 2008, the Democratic Liberal Party and the Alliance of the Social Democratic Party and Conservative Party formed a coalition government (highlighted in bold in the table below).

2004–2008

In the Romanian legislative election, 2004, held on 28 November 2004, the Justice and Truth Alliance won the greatest number of seats, even though no party won an outright majority. The President of the Senate for this legislature was Nicolae Văcăroiu, who was elected on 20 December 2004. Following his ad interim presidency of Romania, he delegated his attributions to the vicepresident Doru Ioan Tărăcilă. After Văcăroiu was sworn in as president of the Court of Accounts, Ilie Sârbu was elected as the new President of the Senate.

Until April 2007, the Justice and Truth Alliance governed in coalition with other minor parties. In April 2007, after the break-up of the Justice and Truth Alliance, the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Hungarians formed a minority government coalition (highlighted in bold in the table below).

2000–2004

Elections to the Senate were held on 26 November 2000, in which the Social Democratic Party of Romania (PSD) won an overall majority. Then President of the Senate of Romania was Nicolae Văcăroiu, who was elected in December, 2000. The allocation of seats was as follows:

Party	' % of seats'	seats
PSD	46.43	65
PRM	26.43	37
PNL	9.29	13
PD	9.29	13
UDMR	8.57	12
Others	0.00	0

Presidents of the Senate

The Standing Bureau of the Senate consists of the President of the Senate, four vice-presidents, four secretaries, and four quaestors. The President of the Standing Bureau also serves as the President of the Senate. The President is elected, by secret ballot, for the duration of the legislative period.^[2]

References

1. ^ "Senatul şi-a ales noua conducere: Cristian Diaconescu, noul vicepreşedinte din partea UNPR [The Senate has elected the new leadership: Cristian Diaconescu, the new vicepresident from UNPR]". Ora de Timiş. 7 February 2011. http://oradetimis.oradestiri.ro/senatul-si-a-ales-noua-conducere-cristian-diaconescunoul-vicepresedinte-din-partea-unpr/national/2011/02/07/. Retrieved 2011-11-29. 
2. ^ Pagina oficiala a Senatului României

External links

• Official web site of the Senate of Romania