Senate, Chamber of Deputies starting second ordinary session

Romania's Senate and the Chamber of Deputies begin today their second ordinary parliamentary session of 2021.

Senate Chair Anca Dragu and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban have called on the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to convene at 16:00hrs, EEST.

As customary at the beginning of each session, the lawmakers will elect by vote the leaders of the two chambers: the deputy chairs, secretaries and treasurers of the standing bureaus, with the chairs being elected at the beginning of the legislature for an entire term.

The election of the leaderships of the two chambers is made at the proposal of the parliamentary groups, in accordance with their weight, according to the political configuration of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and negotiations of the floor leaders. The lists of candidates recommended for the standing bureaus are submitted in full to the vote of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and they pass if approved by an open vote of a majority of the lawmakers in attendance.

Among the priorities of the incoming parliamentary session is a bill on vulnerable consumers, in the Chamber of Deputies, which is the decision-making body in this aces, and a bill disbanding the Court Section for the Investigation of Crimes in Justice (SIIJ), which is with the Senate.

"The priorities are in line with the governing agenda in collaboration with the government, and we have a series of legislative initiatives that have to be completed soon," Senate Chair Dragu said last week.

Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Ludovic Orban announced that the "utmost priority" of the incoming parliamentary session passing a law on vulnerable consumers, which provides for the possibility to support low-income families in paying part of electricity and gas bills.

About the bill disbanding SIIJ, the leaders of the governing coalition consisting of the National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania - Freedom, Unity, and Solidarity Party (USR PLUS) and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) are to decide on the form to be adopted, because, although they all have claimed to agree that this section should be abolished, no consensus solution has been found yet.

On the other hand, the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) demands that the utmost priority in the Senate - the decision-making chamber - be the bill "No convicts in public office," a draft initiated by USR PLUS in the previous legislature, and has announced that it supports the debate and urgent adoption of the law on vulnerable consumers in the Chamber of Deputies.

Also, PSD has announced that it will table a motion of censure when it gets the 234 votes necessary to pass, but at the moment the opposition in Parliament has 204 votes. The Alliance for Romania's Unity (AUR) has announced the beginning of negotiations with lawmakers from across the entire political spectrum for the tabling of a motion of censure early in the incoming parliamentary session.

At the same time, Parliament is scheduled to meet today at 17:30hrs in a joint sitting, where Chair of the Parliament of Moldova Igor Grosu is invited to attend.