2019 Romanian referendum

Last updated
2019 Romanian referendum
Flag of Romania.svg
26 May 2019
Do you agree with the prohibition on amnesties and pardons for corruption offences? [1]
Yes
 
85.91%
No
 
14.09%
Do you agree with the prohibition of the approval by the Government of emergency ordinances in the field of offences, punishments and judicial organisation and with the extension of the right to directly appeal against the ordinances to the Constitutional Court? [1]
Yes
 
86.18%
No
 
13.82%

A consultative referendum took place in Romania on 26 May 2019, on the same day as the European Parliament elections, about whether to prohibit amnesties and pardons for corruption offences, as well as whether to prohibit the Government from passing emergency ordinances concerning the judiciary and to extend the right to appeal against them to the Constitutional Court. [1] Both proposals were approved by wide margins.

Contents

Background

President Klaus Iohannis signed the decree to hold the referendum on 25 April 2019, after the Parliament had recommended in favour of this referendum in a non-binding vote on 17 April. [2] The first proposal for this referendum to be held was made in early 2017, in the wake of the controversial Ordinance 13 and subsequent protests against corruption in Romania, [3] and President Iohannis announced his intention to hold a referendum on 23 January 2019. However, the procedure was suspended until 26 May 2019, when Iohannis decided to extend the issues to be voted on, requiring a new parliamentary procedure. On 4 April, Iohannis announced the issues of the referendum: prohibiting amnesties and pardons for corruption offences, as well as prohibiting the government from adopting emergency ordinances in the field of offences, punishments, and judicial organisation and giving other constitutional authorities the right to submit the ordinances to the Constitutional Court for further review. [4]

Before the parliamentary vote, President Klaus Iohannis sent a letter to leaders of parliamentary parties in order to invite them to a consultation on the referendum, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) being the only party to decline the invitation. [5] Eugen Tomac, the leader of the People's Movement Party (PMP), proposed an additional question for the referendum on one out of three issues suggested by his party: abolishing special pensions, returning to a two-round system for local elections, and lowering the number of MPs to 300. [6]

On 16 April 2019, the common judiciary committees of the two chambers of the Parliament approved the referendum, the Parliament did so the next day in a non-binding vote. PNL and USR accused the PSD of introducing multiple recommendations that had not been discussed in the judiciary committees. Even though the opposition requested the elimination of these recommendations, government MPs disagreed, thus the report was adopted with 259 votes in favour, 9 votes against and 1 abstention. It is shown, among others, in the report, that amnesties and pardons cannot be a citizens' initiative according to the Constitution, and that the President cannot trigger a legislative referendum according to a Constitutional Court ruling. However, the recommendations were eliminated following another parliamentary vote, that passed with 218 votes in favour, 11 votes against and 3 abstentions. [2]

On 25 April, the spokesperson of the Romanian Presidency, Mădălina Dobrovolschi, announced that President Klaus Iohannis had signed the decree for the referendum and published the two questions to be voted on.

Support and opposition

PositionPolitical partiesPolitical orientationRef
Yes check.svgYes National Liberal Party (PNL) Conservative liberalism [7]
Save Romania Union (USR) Anti-corruption [8]
Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party (PLUS) Liberalism [9]
People's Movement Party (PMP) Christian democracy [10]
Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) Hungarian minority politics [11]
Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania (FDGR/DFDR) German minority politics [12]
X mark.svgBoycott Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Liberalism [13]
Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) Christian democracy [14]
Ecologist Party of Romania (PER) Green liberalism
Romanian Socialist Party (PSR) Socialism [15]
Steady2.svgNeutral Social Democratic Party (PSD) Social democracy

In an interview for Antena 3, the then leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, stated that even though his party agrees with the referendum, there are many voices that say that the referendum is actually useless for the publicly expressed purpose and that it actually is a way for Klaus Iohannis to get involved in the electoral campaign so that he can help parties around him. [16] A similar position was shown by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the former junior partner in the bygone PSD-ALDE coalition government between 2017 and 2019, that announced its stance in a message on Facebook.

Results

In order for the results to be valid, voter turnout was required to be above 30%, and the number of valid votes above 25% of the registered voters. Both thresholds were passed, validating the results.

QuestionYesNoInvalid/
blank		Total
votes		Registered
voters		TurnoutResult
Votes%Votes%
Prohibition of amnesties and pardons for corruption offences6,459,38385.911,059,67814.09403,5307,922,59118,277,51143.35%Approved
Emergency ordinances6,477,86586.181,038,91613.82407,0887,923,86918,278,29043.35%Approved
Source: First question, Second question

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Party (Romania)</span> Romanian political party

The Social Democratic Party is the largest political party in Romania. It is also the largest social democratic political party in the country. It was founded by Ion Iliescu, Romania's first democratically elected president at the 1990 Romanian general election. It is currently part of the National Coalition for Romania (CNR), which is a big tent grand coalition comprising also the National Liberal Party (PNL). The CNR formerly included the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) until mid June 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mircea Badea</span> Romanian journalist and actor

Mircea Radu Badea is a right-wing libertarian conservative Romanian political satirist, television host, media critic, radio personality and occasional actor. He is widely known as host of În gura presei a show based on the daily news, that airs on Antena 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Romanian presidential election</span> Presidential elections in November 2014

Presidential elections were held in Romania in 2014. They were the seventh presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. In the first round of the elections on 2 November, the top two of the fourteen candidates qualified in a run-off on 16 November. These candidates were Victor Ponta, former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who won around 40% of the vote in the first round, and Klaus Iohannis, then mayor of Sibiu and leader of the Christian Liberal Alliance (ACL), who won around 30% in the first round respectively. Following large protests on how Ponta's government organized the elections in the diaspora, Klaus Iohannis staged a surprising come-back and won the run-off with 54.5%, or more than a million votes than his contender.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Romanian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 11 December 2016. They were the first held under a new electoral system adopted in 2015, which saw a return to the proportional electoral system last used in the 2004 elections. The new electoral legislation provides a norm of representation for deputies of 73,000 inhabitants and 168,000 inhabitants for senators, which decreased the number of MPs.

The Fourth Ponta Cabinet was the government of Romania from 17 December 2014 to 17 November 2015. The Cabinet was supported by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), the alliance forged by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu's Liberal Reformist Party (PLR) and Daniel Constantin's Conservative Party (PC). Fourteen of the ministerial portfolios were held by PSD members, three by ALDE, two by UNPR and two by independent members.

The Save Romania Union is a liberal political party in Romania that sits on the centre-right of the political spectrum. It is currently the third largest party in the Parliament of Romania with 41 deputies and 20 senators, and a fifth at local level nationwide, after the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) and the People's Movement Party (PMP), two smaller centre-right political parties in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sorin Grindeanu</span> Romanian politician

Sorin Mihai Grindeanu is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania from January to June 2017 when he was removed by a motion of no confidence adopted by the Parliament. He served as ad interim President of the Chamber of Deputies in November 2021. He currently serves as Deputy Prime Minister of Romania since 25 November 2021 as a part of the Ciucă Cabinet, along with Hunor Kelemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Romanian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Romania on 6 December 2020 to elect the 136 members of the Senate and the 330 constituent members of the Chamber of Deputies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2017–2019 Romanian protests</span> Protests against political corruption

There were numerous protests against the Romanian Government between 2017 and 2019. In January 2017, days after the government of the Grindeanu Cabinet was sworn into office in Romania, protests took place throughout the country against ordinance bills that were proposed by the Romanian Ministry of Justice regarding the pardoning of certain committed crimes, and the amendment of the Penal Code of Romania. At the heart of these protests is the community Corruption Kills, founded by Florin Bădiță, who alongside other civic groups organized what proved to be the largest protests since 1989, thus realizing the "Revolution of our generation".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Romanian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections were held in Romania on 10 November 2019, with a second round held on 24 November 2019. They were the eighth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. Incumbent President of Romania Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014, was eligible for re-election. He subsequently defeated former Prime Minister and ex-leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Viorica Dăncilă in the second round of the election by a landslide, receiving 66% of the vote – the second-highest vote share on record in this type of elections after Ion Iliescu.

A referendum took place in Romania on 6 and 7 October 2018 regarding the definition of the family in the Romanian Constitution. The referendum asked voters whether or not they approve a change to the family's definition as provided by Article 48 of the Constitution, to prohibit same-sex marriage. At the same time, a name referendum was held in the Olt County for renaming it to "Olt-Romanați County".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freedom, Unity and Solidarity Party</span> Political party in Romania

The Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity was a pro-European, liberal political party established on 26 October 2018, whose president was Dacian Cioloș, former Prime Minister of Romania from 2015 until 2017, elected on 26 January 2019. The party had its origin in the Movement Romania Together (MRÎ), a project which they gave up due to the setting up delay in court. The party merged in 2021 with the Save Romania Union (USR) with which it has been in a political alliance called 2020 USR-PLUS Alliance from 2019 to 2021, then formally activating as a sole, unified party known as USR PLUS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 European Parliament election in Romania</span>

The 2024 European Parliament election in Romanian was held on 9 June 2024. This was the fifth European Parliament election to be held in Romania since the country's accession to the European Union in 2007 and the first since Brexit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel Ciolacu</span> Prime Minister of Romania since 2023

Ion-Marcel Ciolacu is a Romanian politician who currently serves as the Prime Minister of Romania. He is also the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). As a previously little-known politician outside of Buzău County, where he owns a pastry shop and a consulting firm, Ciolacu came into national prominence when he became the deputy prime minister in 2018 in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mihai Tudose. Allegedly, he was given this office in order to report Tudose's activities to Liviu Dragnea, who had been unable to become prime minister himself and was wary of Tudose becoming a power player in the party. Ciolacu soon broke with Dragnea and became an ally of Tudose against Dragnea's leadership. After Tudose's resignation, Ciolacu was marginalized within PSD but still retained the leadership of PSD Buzău. Ciolacu once again returned to prominence in 2019 after Liviu Dragnea had been convicted on abuse of office and incitement to intellectual forgery charges, having to serve a 3 years, 6 months sentence. With the Social Democrats still controlling a majority both in the Chamber and in the Senate, Ciolacu won the position of President of the Chamber of Deputies, with 172 votes for and 120 against, previously held by Dragnea himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Romanian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Romania on 1 December 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Romanian presidential election</span>

Presidential elections will be held in Romania on 24 November 2024. A second round will be held on 8 December 2024 if no candidate receives an absolute majority of the vote. They will be the ninth presidential elections held in post-1989 Romania. As the Romanian Constitution allows a president to be re-elected only once, the incumbent, Klaus Iohannis, first elected in 2014 and then re-elected in 2019, is not eligible for re-election. His second term will formally end in December 2024.

A political crisis began on 1 September 2021 in Romania, engulfing both major coalition partners of the Cîțu Cabinet, namely the conservative-liberal National Liberal Party (PNL) and the progressive-liberal Save Romania Union (USR). The crisis also involved former prime minister Ludovic Orban (PNL), who was set to face Prime Minister Florin Cîțu (PNL) in a leadership election during the party congress on 25 September, with the latter eventually replacing the former. Orban would eventually resign from his position as President of the Chamber of Deputies, with him and his supporters subsequently splitting from the PNL, in order to form the Force of the Right (FD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Force of the Right</span> Political party in Romania

Force of the Right, sometimes translated as Right's Force or Right Force, is a liberal-conservative political party in Romania founded in December 2021 by Ludovic Orban, former National Liberal Party (PNL) president and former Prime Minister of Romania between 2019 and 2020, in opposition to the current leadership of the PNL which is currently officially led by Nicolae Ciucă and unofficially by Klaus Iohannis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ciucă Cabinet</span> 132nd government of Romania

The Ciucă Cabinet was the 132nd government of Romania led by former Romanian Land Forces army general Nicolae Ciucă from 25 November 2021 to 12 June 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Iohannis a anunțat cele două întrebări la care românii sunt chemați să răspundă la referendumul pe justiție din 26 mai". www.hotnews.ro (in Romanian). 25 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Unda verde pentru referendumul lui Iohannis. Ședința cu scandal, după ce s-au introdus recomandări pentru președinte". ziare.com (in Romanian). 17 April 2019.
  3. ↑ "Klaus Iohannis a declanșat procedura privind organizarea referendumului" (in Romanian). Digi24. 24 January 2017.
  4. ↑ "Iohannis a anunțat temele pentru referendum: interzicerea amnistiei şi grațierii pentru corupție și interzicerea adoptării unei OUG pe Justiție". Adevărul . Apr 4, 2019. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Consultările partidelor politice cu președintele Iohannis pe tema referendumului s-au terminat" (in Romanian).
  6. ↑ "PMP propune ca la referendum să existe și o întrebare privind reducerea numărului de parlamentari sau eliminarea pensiilor speciale" (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 2019-05-01. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  7. ↑ "Raluca Turcan: PNL susţine referendumul convocat de preşedinte; întrebările – cât se poate de realiste şi oneste" (in Romanian).
  8. ↑ "George Dircă: USR susţine orice fel de referendum; ceea ce solicită preşedintele – chestiuni de moralitate" (in Romanian).
  9. ↑ "Dacian Cioloş, după convocarea referendumului de către Iohannis: Lupta anticorupţie nu trebuie oprită" (in Romanian).
  10. ↑ "Băsescu: Imaginaţi-vă câtă legitimitate vor considera unii că au primit ca să facă zob legile justiţiei, în cazul unui eşec la referendum" (in Romanian).
  11. ↑ "Kelemen, despre întrebările pentru referendum: Sunt simple. Recomandăm oamenilor să voteze "da" - Esential - HotNews.ro". www.hotnews.ro. Apr 25, 2019. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019.
  12. ↑ "Apel al fostului partid al lui Iohannis ca germanii din România să nu voteze cu PSD, ALDE sau UDMR" (in Romanian).
  13. ↑ "Tăriceanu: Recomandarea ALDE este să nu se voteze la referendum". EurActiv | Știri, politici europene & Actori UE online. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019.
  14. ↑ "PNȚCD boicot la referendum 26 mai" (in Romanian).
  15. ↑ "Comunicat". ★ Socialistul.ro. May 21, 2019. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Dragnea și Tăriceanu văd referendumul pe justiție ca fiind "o manipulare" și "o rușine"". EurActiv. Retrieved Nov 24, 2019. sunt multe voci care spun că referendumum de fapt este inutil pentru scopul prezentat public [...] de fapt este un mijloc prin care vrea să se implice în campanie electorală pentru a ajuta partidele care sunt în jurul dumnealui.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.