New Legislative Provisions

Political party switching and postal voting were on the agenda of the Parliament on Tuesday.

România Internațional, 10.12.2014, 13:52

Party switching, a frequent occurrence in Romanian political life, is, just like corruption, one of the practices that question the integrity of politicians. Loyalty to a specific political doctrine, be it right-wing, left-wing, center or closer to the extremes, is seen as a proof of politicians’ reliability. Ever since the early ‘90s, when Romania was trying to adjust to democratic practices, we’ve seen countless examples of politicians in both local and central administration, who have moved from one side to the other of the political spectrum.

This practice is quite common in the Parliament of Romania, and has often contributed to the rise and fall of successive governments. The same Parliament has recently passed a controversial government emergency ordinance allowing local elected officials to switch from one party to another without losing their seats. During the debates on the bill in the Senate, the decision-making body in this case, Ilie Sarbu, the floor leader of the Social Democratic Party, the main member of the ruling coalition in Romania, pleaded for the respective act:

“We had different arguments to support the bill. There was this Social Liberal Union, people voted for it, and then they were confused because one party in this alliance walked away.”

The Social Liberal Union was the alliance that won the legislative elections of 2012, but with the withdrawal of the National Liberal Party, this political project was buried. In turn, the National Liberal Party, in Opposition today, after having merged with the Liberal Democrats, harshly criticized the bill, which it will take to the Constitutional Court as well. Here is the Liberal floor leader Puiu Hasoti

:

“This encourages the most damaging practice in Romanian politics at local, county and national level. Political party switching has altered voting majorities at local, county and national levels, and this bill further encourages it, which is unacceptable.”

Also on Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies turned down a bill allowing the Romanian citizens living abroad to vote by post. The administration committee and the judicial committee recommended that the Chamber should not pass the bill, on grounds that its current text has flaws as regards ensuring voting security. Observers find it at least strange that Parliament was unable to adopt a piece of legislation on postal voting, which is generally viewed as the best means to prevent crowding in polling stations abroad, as it happened in last month’s presidential elections.