The Parliament of Romania () is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the capital.

Prior to the modification of the Constitution in 2003, the two houses had identical attributes. A text of a law had to be approved by both houses. If the text differed, a special commission () was formed by deputies and senators, that "negotiated" between the two houses the form of the future law. The report of this commission had to be approved in a joint session of the Parliament.

After the 2003 referendum, a law still has to be approved by both houses, but each house has designated matters it gets to deliberate before the other, in capacity of "deciding chamber" (). If that first chamber adopts a law proposal (relating to its competences), it is passed on to the other one, which can approve or reject. If it makes amendments, the bill is sent back to the deciding chamber, the decision of which is final.

In 2009, a referendum was held to consult the population about turning the parliament into a unicameral body and reducing the number of representatives to 300. Although the referendum passed, the results are not binding, a referendum explicitly mentioning the modification of the constitution being required to achieve this.For the modification of the structure of parliament, a constitutional amendment is needed. (euractiv.ro)

History

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:

C (Conservative) MC (Moderate Conservative) RL (Radical Liberal) ML (Moderate Liberal)

The political stance of the presidents of the assembly after the development of a modern party system is shown by:

PNL = National Liberal Party (present-day)/historical PC = Conservative Party PNR/PȚB/PNȚ/PNȚ-CD = Romanian National Party/Bessarabian Peasants' Party/National Peasants' Party/Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party PP = People's Party PCD = Conservative-Democratic Party PCP = Progressive Conservative Party PND = Democratic Nationalist Party PNC = National Christian Party FRN = National Renaissance Front(from 1940 PN; Party of the Nation) FP = Ploughmen's Front FSN = National Salvation Front PMR = Romanian Workers' Party(from 1965 PCR; Romanian Communist Party) PD/PDL = Democratic Party/Democratic Liberal Party PDSR = Party of Social Democracy in Romania(from 2001 PSD; Social Democratic Party) ALDE = Alliance of Liberals and Democrats USR = USR PLUS/Save Romania Union Mil. = Military Ind. = Independent

19th century

El.yr. Leg.no. LOWER HOUSE UPPER HOUSE # Name Portrait Born-Died Took office Left office Party # Name Portrait Born-Died Took office Left office Party 1862 I Assembly of Deputies not yet established 1 Metropolitan-primate Nifon Rusailă 24 January 1862 2 May 1864 Ind. 1864 II 2 Alexandru Emanoil Florescu 1822–1907 29 December 1864 25 June 1865 C Corpul Ponderator 1 Metropolitan-primate Nifon Rusailă 6 December 1864 1 June 1866 Ind. 3 Emanoil Costache Epureanu 1823–1880 12 December 1865 3 January 1866 C 4 Nicolae Catargiu 1830–1882 9 January 1866 12 February 1866 C 1866(Apr) III (3) Emanoil Costache Epureanu 1823–1880 9 May 1866 6 July 1866 C Senat (1) Metropolitan-primate Nifon Rusailă 1 June 1866 6 June 1868 Ind. 1866(Nov) IV 5 Lascăr Catargiu 1823–1899 12 December 1866 1 November 1867 C 6 Anastasie Fătu 1816–1886 15 January 1868 15 November 1868 RL 2 Ștefan Golescu 1809–1874 6 September 1868 15 November 1868 RL 7 Ion C. Brătianu 1821–1891 18 November 1868 29 January 1869 RL 3 Nicolae Golescu 1810–1877 18 November 1868 9 July 1869 RL 1869 V 8 Costache Negri 1812–1876 8 May 1869 17 November 1869 ML 4 Alexandru Plagino 1821–1894 2 September 1869 4 March 1871 MC 9 Grigore Balș –1895 20 November 1869 1 May 1870 MC 1870 VI 10 Gheorghe Costa-Foru 1820–1876 2 July 1870 3 February 1871 C 11 Nicolae Păcleanu 5 February 1871 16 March 1871 RL 1871 VII 12 Dimitrie Ghica 1816–1897 26 May 1871 17 February 1876 C (1) Metropolitan-primate Nifon Rusailă 4 March 1871 5 May 1875 Ind. 1875 VIII 5 Metropolitan-primate Calinic Miclescu 9 June 1875 25 March 1879 Ind. 13 Constantin N. Brăiloiu 1809/10–1889 18 February 1876 3 May 1876 C 1876 IX 14 Constantin A. Rosetti 1816–1885 25 June 1876 26 May 1878 PNL 15 Gheorghe Vernescu 1829–1900 6 June 1878 15 November 1878 PNL (14) Constantin A. Rosetti 1816–1885 17 November 1878 9 June 1881 PNL 1879 X 6 Constantin Bosianu 1815–1882 25 May 1879 15 November 1879 PNL 7 Dimitrie Ghica 1816–1897 17 November 1879 8 September 1888 PNL 1881 XI 16 Dimitrie C. Brătianu 1818–1892 9 June 1881 21 October 1882 PNL 17 Dimitrie Lecca 1832–1888 21 October 1882 5 March 1883 PNL 1883 XII (14) Constantin A. Rosetti 1816–1885 16 May 1883 17 October 1883 PNL (17) Dimitrie Lecca 1832–1888 19 October 1883 4 July 1888 PNL 1884 XIII 1888 XIV (5) Lascăr Catargiu 1823–1899 10 November 1888 14 January 1889 PC 8 Ion Emanoil Florescu 1819–1893 4 November 1888 7 December 1889 PC 18 Constantin Grădișteanu 1833–1890 19 January 1889 16 November 1889 PC 9 Nicolae Kretzulescu 1812–1900 13 December 1889 6 June 1890 PC 19 Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino 1833–1913 16 November 1889 22 February 1891 PC (8) Ion Emanoil Florescu 1819–1893 17 November 1890 21 February 1891 PC 1891 XV 20 Gheorghe Rosnovanu 1832–1904 3 May 1891 11 December 1891 PC 10 Constantin Boerescu 1845–1928 1 March 1891 11 December 1891 PC 1892 XVI 21 Gheorghe Manu 1833–1911 26 February 1892 24 October 1895 PC 11 Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino 1833–1913 25 February 1892 24 October 1895 PC 1895 XVII 22 Petre S. Aurelian 1833–1909 9 December 1895 21 November 1896 PNL (7) Dimitrie Ghica 1816–1897 9 December 1895 15 February 1897 PNL 12 Dimitrie Alexandru Sturdza 1833–1914 20 February 1897 31 March 1897 PNL 23 Dimitrie Gianni 1832–1902 23 November 1896 21 April 1899 PNL 13 Eugeniu Stătescu 1836–1905 31 March 1897 18 November 1897 PNL 14 Nicolae Gane 1838–1916 18 November 1897 21 April 1899 PNL 1899 XVIII 24 Constantin Olănescu 1845–1928 13 June 1899 21 September 1900 PC (10) Constantin Boerescu 1836–1908 13 June 1899 14 February 1901 PC (19) Gheorghe Grigore Cantacuzino 1833–1913 25 September 1900 14 February 1901 PC

20th century