two chambers of the new Parliament in Bucharest met for the first time on
Monday. Chairing the meeting were its most senior members, the Liberal MP Leon
Danaila in the Senate and Miron Ignat, from the group of ethnic minorities, in
the Chamber of Deputies. In his opening remarks, Leon Danaila said Romania’s
Senate had in time demonstrated its vocation as an engine of democracy and a
forum for political debate of all problems in society.
authentic democracy is unconceivable without a strong and respected
Parliament.
In the
Chamber of Deputies, Miron Ignat spoke about the parliamentarians’
responsibility towards the people who elected them. Miron Ignat:
We, the members of the new Parliament, must perfect the legislation in the
field of education, healthcare and public administration so that the laws we
will pass in this Parliament will benefit the people who have elected us.
At
this stage, the parliamentary parties have divided among themselves the
chairmanship of the specialist committees. The Social Democrats, who have
categorically won the elections with 45% of the votes, will chair most of these
committees, both in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies. They will thus
chair 10 Chamber of Deputies committees, including the legal, budget, defence,
employment and healthcare committees.
The National Liberal Party, the second
largest party in Parliament, will chair four committees. The Save Romania Union
and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats will chair two each, while the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians and the People’s Movement Party one each.
In the Senate, the Social Democratic Party will chair 11 committees and the
Liberals five. The parliamentary parties have also established some of the
details of their future strategy.
The leader of the Social Democratic Party,
Liviu Dragnea:
We will never support legislation that provides for benefits or special
advantages for elected officials. When we manage to raise the living standard
in Romania, only then will we also think of ourselves.
The
interim secretary general of the National Liberal Party Marian Petrache spoke
about his party’s priority at this point:
Choosing the best people for the positions allocated to the National Liberal
Party, people with experience, who are familiar with the parliamentary customs
and who are able to make constructive opposition to the Social Democratic Party
in the best interest of all: ours, as a party, and the citizens of Romania.
It
remains to be seen if the promises made now will be backed by actions.