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Viewing cable 08BUCHAREST313, ROMANIA'S NEW UNINOMINAL ELECTION LAW CHANGES THE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08BUCHAREST313 2008-04-21 15:39 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Bucharest
VZCZCXRO3633
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBM #0313/01 1121539
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 211539Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8190
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000313 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIA'S NEW UNINOMINAL ELECTION LAW CHANGES THE 
POLITICAL RULES 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary: Romania formally adopted new electoral 
rules intended to increase accountability to local electoral 
districts and to encourage political parties to choose 
candidates on the basis of attractiveness to voters rather 
than loyalty to party kingmakers.  The new rules create a 
first-past-the-post system for candidates receiving a simple 
majority of votes in their respective districts, and include 
preferential provisions making it easier for ethnic minority 
parties to have at least one parliamentary seat even if they 
fail to meet the thresholds applied to other political 
parties. However, some critics warn that the new rules may 
lead to the breakdown of party discipline and create an even 
more heterogeneous and faction-ridden political scene. 
President Basescu has accentuated the positive, remarking 
that the new rules were "half a step" in the right direction. 
 End Summary. 
 
2. (SBU) A uninominal electoral reform law was formally 
gazetted by the government (and thus entered into force) 
April 13.  The law was approved by parliament last March by 
an overwhelming margin of 231 "yes" votes (PNL, PD-L, PSD, 
and PC) to 11 "no" votes (PRM) and 18 abstentions (UDMR). 
However, the PC and right-extremist PRM subsequently 
challenged the law with the Constitutional Court, which 
rejected the challenge.  The new electoral rules retain a 5 
percent threshold for parties seeking to be represented in 
parliament, and create an alternate threshold allowing for 
parliamentary representation of parties winning at least 6 
seats in the House of Deputies and 3 in the Senate. 
Independent candidates will need to win the support of at 
least 4 percent of the total number of eligible voters in 
their district in order to win a parliamentary seat.  Ethnic 
minority parties that fail to pass the two thresholds for 
parliamentary representation are still entitled to one seat 
in the Chamber of Deputies provided they receive a minimum of 
10 percent of the national average number of votes necessary 
to elect a representative to the Chamber.  County council 
chairmen will be elected in a first-past-the-post single 
ballot, replacing a previous system where they were chosen 
through back-room negotiations among council members. 
3. (SBU) The new system will include 42 total constituencies 
nationwide, including the existing 41 counties and the 
Bucharest metropolitan area.  However, a separate electoral 
district will be created for expatriate Romanians voting 
overseas.  These constituencies will be divided into 
"uninominal districts" (seats), with the ratio of some 70,000 
inhabitants for one representative of the Chamber of Deputies 
and 160,000 inhabitants for every Senator.  Based on this 
ratio, there will be some 330 seats in the lower chamber and 
135 in the upper chamber for the next election, with an 
additional 4 deputies and 2 senators representing overseas 
constituencies.  A parliamentary committee has been formed to 
draw up new electoral districts, and their decisions must be 
ratified through a Cabinet resolution within 90 days from 
when the electoral law took effect (e.g., by July 13, 2008). 
4.  (SBU) However, at the insistence of political parties, 
the new system retains some proportional elements in an 
effort to balance voter preferences with some provisions 
which give play to the parties, relative electoral weights. 
Candidates who receive a simple majority (e.g., 50 percent 
plus one vote) in a uninominal district will enter Parliament 
outright, provided their party passes either the 5 percent or 
6/3 electoral thresholds.  However, if no candidate manages 
to get a simple majority of votes in a given constituency, 
all of the votes obtained by the various candidates will be 
pooled by party affiliation at both the constituency and 
national levels.  A "party list" will be drawn up for each 
party in a given constituency, comprised of all of the 
candidates listed in decreasing number of total votes 
received.  Seats will go to the highest placed candidates 
from parties entitled to receive seats, based on an 
"electoral coefficient."  If all of the seats in a given 
constituency are not assigned during this stage, remaining 
seats will be assigned to parties based on their respective 
shares of the vote obtained nationally, again on the basis of 
"party lists" reflecting candidates' vote shares in their 
respective districts. 
5.  (SBU) Comment: Passage of the electoral reform bill marks 
the end of a effort begun in the mid 1990s to abandon 
Romania's party-list electoral system which gave 
disproportionate power to party bigwigs and which minimized 
the political accountability of elected officials. 
Proponents argue that the new rules will force parties to 
choose candidates on the basis of local electability rather 
than loyalty to kingmakers.  In addition, they claim the new 
rules will foster grassroots democratization by providing an 
opening for smaller, regionally-based parties with stronger 
ties to local electorates.  Critics on the other hand warn 
that the new electoral code will weaken the center and foster 
the breakdown of party discipline, creating an even more 
 
BUCHAREST 00000313  002 OF 002 
 
 
faction-ridden political scene.  They also predict the 
emergence of new political elites skewed more towards local 
oligarchs, celebrities, sports figures, and others with 
greater appeal or resources at the local level.  Despite the 
"uninominal" moniker, the new system retains a number of 
elements from the old party-list system, including provisions 
that could mean that a candidate failing to meet the 50 plus 
1 percent threshold might lose to rivals receiving fewer 
votes overall, but belonging to parties with a larger 
national vote share.  However, President Basescu in signing 
the bill into law chose to accentuate the positive, remarking 
that the election reform was "half a step" in the right 
direction.  End Comment. 
TAUBMAN