Parliament May Not Stop Education Bill Adoption Procedure – Romanian PM

He explained the Government appeared before the Parliament on October 28 to seek the confidence vote on the education bill and, moreover, the opposition filed a motion of no-confidence, which legitimized the procedure. He said a current procedure may not be stopped and the institutional blockage can be solved only by the Constitutional Court.

The prime minister, Senate Chairman Mircea Geoana and Chamber of Deputies Speaker Roberta Anastase met with judges at the Constitutional Court to discuss the legal conflict between the Government and Parliament, at the prime minister’s request.

Geoana said the request was „groundless,” as the Senate will adopt the education bill in about a week. He added that no one may replace the Parliament as legislative body. Anastase said the vote of confidence on the bill is ongoing, but currently blocked „illogically” by the Parliament.

Romania’s Government asked the Constitutional Court in a letter to take note of a legal conflict between the Executive and the Parliament, as the latter refused to debate the no-confidence motion filed by the opposition after the Executive sought lawmakers’ confidence vote on the education bill.

Last Friday, the Constitutional Court presented the motivation to a decision it ruled two weeks ago, when it acknowledged a legal conflict on constitutional grounds between the two institutions over the education bill, which the Government pulled from the Senate and sought to adopt through a confidence vote. According to the Court’s motivation, the Government’s decision to withdraw the education bill from the Senate is groundless, as the adoption of the act was not that urgent, given the measures it includes would have applied starting with the 2011-2012 school year.