Romanian Constitution revision team to fire up work end of May, after feedback from NGOs, academics

The team tasked with revising Romania's Constitution will start working as quickly as possible from May 29, said the Senate president Crin Antonescu, who also leads the group which will revise the constitution. The commission is awaiting a report from the Constitutional Forum, which is due on May 27, with a one week delay. The delay was caused by intense debates, which is a good thing, according to Antonescu, as organizations and the academic environment were passionate about this issue. The constitutional revision team will have meetings several times a week to create the project for revising Romania's Constitution. By May 27, MPs can also submit proposals to revise certain parts of the Constitution. “There are proposals for revisions of all chapters of the Constitution, and certain versions for them. About all of these we will talk starting next week […],” said Antonescu. The team led by Antonescu was initially tasked with changing the Constitution so as to change the role of the country's president, the mechanism for nominating the Prime Minister by the President, and finding ways to stop political defections. The PM representing Romania at the European meetings will also be among the novelties in the Constitution, and would solve possible quarrels between the president and the PM, as occurred in 2012. Antonescu, a former interim president of Romania while the current president Traian Basescu was suspended in 2012, is currently the head of Senate and USL's announced candidate in the upcoming presidential race in 2014. The Constitutional revision commission will comprise a representative of the Presidential Administration, one from the Government, one from the Constitutional Court and one form the Superior Court of Magistrates. The Commission was initially to finish its task by the beginning of May 2013, and the Parliament was expected to cast its vote on the project sometime in May – June, while the referendum to ratify the changes was to take place in September – October. editor@romania-insider.com