PNL Submits Bill Allowing President Iohannis to Run for Senate

The National Liberal Party (PNL) has submitted a draft law that will allow the president to run for an elected position in the Romanian Parliament during the last three months of his mandate, the leader of Liberal senators Daniel Fenechiu told Digi24. The senator’s statement comes after several days in which the liberals circulated this scenario that will allow President Klaus Iohannis to run for a senator’s position on the PNL lists.

“The current information is that the National Liberal Party registered in the legislative procedure an amendment to the law which provides that the president in office, in the last three months of his mandate, can run as an independent candidate on the list of a party or an alliance. It is a legislative proposal that practically enshrines the right of the president who ends his mandate with the current Parliament, if he wants to be able to continue his political career and solves a problem. If you ask me why now, it’s because in the last 20 years the parliamentary elections have not overlapped with the presidential elections and we want the president, if he wants, to run”, explained Daniel Fenechiu.

“The President of Romania, depending on the date of the election of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, if he is in the last 3 months of his mandate, can run as an independent on the lists of a political party, a political alliance or an electoral alliance to obtain a senator or deputy mandate. If he is elected or a deputy, the president of Romania is obliged, after validation, to choose between the quality of senator or deputy and that of president”, reads the text of the project submitted by the PNL.

The Liberal stated that a coalition vote is needed to pass this amendment to the law.

“This legislative proposal will pass if the coalition agrees. The National Liberal Party, at the moment, does not have an absolute majority in the Romanian Parliament. But what we are doing is an act of justice, because in 20 years, for example, we may be in a different situation. If the president’s mandate will be reduced to 4 years, every four years, we will find ourselves in this situation,” the liberal also declared.

Such a change was made 20 years ago, when the parliamentary and presidential elections overlapped, and it gave the former President back then, Ion Iliescu, the opportunity at that time to take this step, even though he was not a party member.