Scheduling presidential elections after the parliamentary ballot might offer the electorate the opportunity to choose people, not parties, for the supreme position in the state. Under these circumstances, Senate and Chamber of Deputies elections could be organised this autumn, while presidentials may take place next spring at the latest.
Thus, the votes for presidency might go to credible candidates due to their qualities and to the programmes they support, therefore they would no longer be “trailers” for the parties they represent. As far as parliamentary elections are concerned, parties will have to promote candidates selected on competence criteria, who will no longer be able to hide behind leaders’ protection.
As to the economic situation, such a decision might contribute to accomplishing the economic programme for the current year and to honouring the engagements Romania assumed towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other financial institutions. Moreover, the last revision of the memorandum with the IMF will be done in February. This might be the last agreement perfected by Romanian authorities in spite of the electoral atmosphere. Besides, we might even be favoured as far as the European Union joining plan is concerned, as negotiations for four chapters are scheduled for the beginning of next year. As PDSR (Party of Social Democracy) announced that it would re-negotiate several engagements made by the Isarescu Government, whose strategy was very much appreciated at Brussels, such an initiative would block any approach of this kind.
Postponing presidential elections would allow Parliament to work until the end of the year, while the Government would have the necessary time to submit next year’s budget project for debates. Such a measure would contribute to finalising several important draft laws that have not been adopted by the Legislative for various reasons. First, the Law on the nationalised houses could be adopted by the end of the year, as it represents a priority for coalition parties and it is currently blocked at the Senate after having been voted by the Deputies. The Law on public local administration, whose debate has repeatedly been postponed, could benefit from the same advantages. Government parties have often expressed their support for voting these drafts as quickly as possible, but for various reasons, many of them of an electoral nature, they finally blocked these projects’ way to the Official Gazette.
From a technical point of view, the Constitution stipulates that the elections for the Senate and for the Chamber of Deputies should take place three months after the end of the mandate or after Parliament’s dissolution.
The presidential mandate lasts for four years and it can only be extended by an organic law, in case of a war or disaster. Under these circumstances, parliamentary elections could be deferred by three months as to the date of November 27, 2000, that is to February 27, 2001 the latest. Emil Constantinescu’s mandate ends on November 29.
Election dates are to be settled by government decision, according to the Electoral Law, which stipulates though that the presidential ballot shall take place at the same time with parliamentary elections. An amendment may be operated either based on a law adopted by Parliament, or through an emergency ordinance. In this second case, the Executive has already set a precedent when it approved the raise of the electoral threshold to five percent and the increase in the number of signatures required to enter the presidential race from 100,000 to 300,000. As a matter of fact, presidential sources state that two variants of governmental acts have been prepared, aimed at setting the date for elections and the rules for their development. These documents take into account both alternatives, namely simultaneous and separate elections. The drafts should be prepared before the end of June for otherwise there would be no time left, the above-quoted sources say. Discussions for an eventual delay between presidential and parliamentary elections are not a novelty. They also occurred before the elections back in 1992 and in 1996, but PDSR, then the ruling party, shunned away from any steps in this direction, as Iliescu’s candidacy was an asset for the party. This year, the idea was supported by President Constantinescu during the meeting he had with media managers on the day he made public his decision to quit the race for Palatul Cotroceni.