Romanian Lawmakers Reject Govt Emergency Decree Changing Referendum Law

According to the ordinance, the Parliament has 20 days to rule on the President’s proposal to hold a referendum. The act also states the referendum can be held in the same polling stations as the presidential or parliamentary elections.

Social democrat, liberal and Hungarian minority deputies criticized the ordinance, while democrat liberals supported it.

The decree got a no vote in Senate last month.

Opposition liberals and former government members social democrats challenged the decree at the Constitutional Court arguing the Government has no business telling Parliament what to do.

Romanian President Traian Basescu, who will seek reelection in November, issued the presidential decree for the organization of a referendum, simultaneously with the presidential elections set for November 22, to downsize the country’s 471-seat Parliament to a single chamber and a maximum of 300 seats.