O Încercare De Caracterizare A Regimului Politic Din România, Din Perspectiva Propunerii Legislative De Revizuire A Constituţiei

This study aims to analyze the political regime established by the Constitution from 1991, from constitutional and politological point of view. The authors state that there is not only a single model of semi­presidential system – the one chosen by the Constituent Assembly in 1991 ­ but each country that has experienced this type of regime has tried to adapt it to its traditions and to its political and social­economic background. The authors emphasize on the fundamental features of the semi­presidential regime, and considering this theoretical basis, they analyze the institutional relations between the Parliament , the President of Romania and the Government. The Constitution of 1991 set up these relationships, so that the president of the republic gains the role of balance between the Legislature and the Government, considering the fact that the Parliament is the sole legislative authority and the Government carries out domestic and foreign policy of the country. The authors show that despite the constitutional provisions, more than often the institutional relations between the Parliament, the President of Romania and the Government have deteriorated, turning the balance of power in favor of the Government. Due to this imbalance in exercising power, the semi­presidential regime lost the ability to ensure a democratic government. Therefore, after the parliamentary elections in 2012, a legislative procedure has been initiated for amending the Constitution, in order to reconfigure the constitutional relations between the Legislative and Executive. Throughout this study the authors analyze the legislative proposal to amend the Constitution, which was published in the Official Gazette no 100 from 10th February 2014, and contains provisions which are likely to diminish the constitutional powers of the President of Romania and strengthen the Parliament's prerogatives.