Next Romanian parliamentary election

Next Romanian parliamentary election

←  2024 On or before 26 November 2028
All 136 seats in the Senate All 331 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 69 S and 166 D seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Marcel Ciolacu George Simion Ilie Bolojan Party PSD AUR PNL Leader since 26 November 2019 1 December 2019 25 November 2024 Acting Leader's seat D – Buzău D – Bucharest S – Bihor Last election 36 S / 86 D 28 S / 63 D 22 S / 49 D   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Elena Lasconi Diana Șoșoacă Anamaria Gavrilă Party USR SOS RO POT Leader since 26 June 2024 2022 31 July 2023 Leader's seat Did not stand Did not take the seat stood for S – Bucharest D – Hunedoara Last election 19 S / 40 D 12 S / 28 D 7 S / 24 D   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Hunor Kelemen Varujan Pambuccian [a] Party UDMR Minority parties Leader since February 2011 – Leader's seat D – Harghita D – Nationwide [b] Last election 10 S / 22 D – S / 19 D
Prime Minister before election Marcel Ciolacu PSD Prime Minister after election TBD

The next Romanian parliamentary election will take place on a Sunday before 30 November 2028. ^[2] The election may take place earlier if a snap election is called or if the government loses a no confidence motion. ^{[3] [4]}

Background

After the 2024 Romanian parliamentary election, a pro-European coalition was formed between the centre-left Social Democratic Party, the centre-right National Liberal Party, the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania and ethnic minority parties. ^[5] The liberal reformist Save Romania Union party also initially signed an agreement to enter government, but subsequently went into opposition. ^{[6] [7]}

Electoral system

Both the 331 members of the Chamber of Deputies as well as the 136 members of the Senate are elected in 43 multi-member constituencies based on Romania's 41 counties, the Municipality of Bucharest, as well as the Romanian diaspora using party-list proportional representation. Law no. 208/2015 outlines that each constituency is to be awarded one deputy every 73,000 people and one senator every 168,000 people in accordance with the population data collected on 1 January of the previous year by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). Constituencies cannot have less than 4 deputies and 2 senators. ^[8]

Parties must pass a threshold of 5% of the national vote or at least 20% of the vote in four constituencies. Electoral alliances must pass a higher threshold, namely 8% for those with two member-parties, 9% for three and 10% for alliances of more. Further seats (currently 18) can be added in the Chamber of Deputies for ethnic minority groups that compete in the elections and pass a lower threshold (5% of the votes needed to win a seat in the lower chamber, calculated by dividing the number of votes of parties, alliances and independent candidates that passed the threshold by the amount of seats that they won). ^[9]

Opinion polls

Date	Poll source	Sample size
			PSD	AUR	PNL	USR	SOS	POT	UDMR	PMP	FD	REPER	Others	Lead
14 - 16 Feb 2025	FlashData	7,500	21.2	27.9	12.3	19.0	5.6	6.7	3.4	1.1	0.6	1.1	1.1		6.7
21 - 25 Jan 2025	CURS	1,100	24	22	15	13	5	10	5	—	—	—	6	2
10 - 16 Jan 2025	Avangarde	1,354	22	29	13	13	8	5	4	3	2	—	1	7
1 December 2024	2024 Chamber election	—	21.96	18.01	13.20	12.40	7.36	6.46	6.33	2.05		1.24	10.99	3.95
	2024 Senate election	—	22.30	18.30	14.28	12.26	7.76	6.39	6.38	1.88		1.37	9.08	4

Notes

1. Pambuccian, a member of the Union of Armenians of Romania, has been the parliamentary leader of the national minorities' group since 1996.
2. National minorities have nationwide mandates and do not represent a specific county. ^[1]

References

1. Legea privind alegerea Senatului şi a Camerei Deputaţilor, precum şi pentru organizarea şi funcţionarea Autorităţii Electorale Permanente, cu modificările şi completările ulterioare [The Law on the election of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, as well as on the organization and operation of the Permanent Electoral Authority, with subsequent amendments and additions – Updated text](PDF) (208, 94.12) (in Romanian). 20 July 2015.
2. "Romania". IPU Parline: Global data on national parliaments. 1 December 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
3. Oprita, Antonia; Marinas, Radu (8 July 2005). "Romania calls snap election". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
4. "Romanian far right parties file no-confidence motion against pro-European government". Reuters. 25 February 2025. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
5. Mcgrath, Stephen; Ghirda, Vadim (23 December 2024). "Romanian lawmakers narrowly approve new pro-European coalition during period of political turmoil". AP News. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
6. "Romania's pro-Western parties agree to form a majority government after political turmoil". Associated Press. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
7. Service, s Romanian (14 February 2025). "Romanian Opposition Welcomes Vance Comments On Election Annulment". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
8. "Legea nr. 208/2015 privind alegerea Senatului şi a Camerei Deputaţilor, precum şi pentru organizarea şi funcţionarea Autorităţii Electorale Permanente" [Law no. 208/2015 regarding the election of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, as well as the organization and operation of the Permanent Electoral Authority]. Lege5 (in Romanian).
9. "Articolul 56 – Legea nr. 208/2015" [Article 56 – Law no. 56/2015]. Lege5 (in Romanian).