The parliamentary history of
Romania starts in May 1831 in
Wallachia, where a constitutional document was adopted, more specifically
Regulamentul Organic ("The Organic Statute" or "The Organic Regulation"); less than a year later, in January 1832, this same statute was implemented in
Moldavia as well. The organic regulation laid the foundations for the parliamentary institution in the
Romanian Principalities. The Paris Convention of 19 August 1858 and, especially,
Statutul Dezvoltător ("The Expanding Statute") of that convention (which introduced a
bicameral parliament, by founding
Corpul Ponderator, later renamed
Senat), adopted on the initiative of prince (
Domnitor)
Alexandru Ioan Cuza, by means of a
plebiscite (i.e. referendum) in 1864, perfected and enlarged the principle of national representation. Under the political regime established by the Paris Convention, the legislative power faced an obvious process of modernization, and the legislative power as National Representation, which operated in accordance with the organization and operation mode of parliaments in
Western Europe at that time. The historical process of formation of the Parliament of Romania in the modern age strongly boosted the affirmation of national
sovereignty, subsequently leading to the
Union of the two Romanian Principalities (i.e. Wallachia and Moldavia) in 1859. Under the dome of the Romanian Parliament, on 9 May 1877, the Declaration of Independence of Romania was read, and, in 1920, the documents of union with
Transylvania and
Bessarabia under the
Treaty of Trianon (4 June 1920) were read, the formal beginning of
Greater Romania, the enlarged
interwar Kingdom of Romania (which also included the entire
historical region of
Bukovina as per the
Treaty of Saint-German-en-Laye from 1919). In February 1938, amid the rather chaotic European political atmosphere which eventually led to
World War II, King
Carol II, who always tended to favour his own personal rule over
parliamentary democracy, imposed a rule of
authoritarian monarchy. Under the royal dictatorship, the parliament became merely a decorative body, deprived of its main attributes. Carol II abdicated in September 1940, and the succeeding
National Legionary State suspended the parliament. The National Legionary State as such lasted less than five months, but it was succeeded by
Ion Antonescu's military dictatorship, and the parliament still remained suspended. After 23 August 1944, under the pressure of
Soviet and other communist forces, the parliament was re-organized as a
single legislative body, the
Assembly of Deputies, changed under the 1948 constitution, into the
Great National Assembly, a merely formal body, totally subordinate to the power of the
Romanian Communist Party (PCR). The
Romanian Revolution of December 1989 opened the road for
Romanians to restore authentic
pluralistic representative democracy, respecting
human rights, and observing the
separation of powers and the rulers' responsibility before representative bodies. Thanks to the documents issued by the
provisional revolutionary power, Romania returned to a bicameral parliamentary system, represented politically as such both by the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. All these stipulations can be found in the country's new
Constitution, approved by
referendum in 1991. During more than a decade of
post-communist transition, the
Chamber of Deputies and
Senate debated and adopted numerous laws and regulations aimed at reforming the entire society on a democratic basis, guaranteeing respect of fundamental human rights, promoting reform and
privatization, consolidating
free market economic institutions and those of a state ruled by law, which led to Romania's integration into such notable international institutions as the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2004 and the
European Union (EU) three years later in 2007.
List of presidents of the Houses Last election of the President of the Chamber of Deputies:
November 2021 The
1866,
1923, and
1938 Constitution of Romania state that the assembly presidents are elected at the beginning of each session. This tradition was kept in the early years of the People's Republic. In modern times, both presidents of the
Chamber of Deputies and of the
Senate are elected for the entire duration of that house's term. Under special circumstances the presidents of the houses can be revoked. The political stance of the presidents of the assembly prior to the development of a modern party system is shown by: The political stance of the presidents of the assembly after the development of a modern party system is shown by:
19th century 20th century 21st century == Functioning ==