Romania Government 1997

Country name
conventional long form: none
conventional short form : Romania
local long form: none
local short form: Romania

Data code RO

Government type republic

National capital Bucharest

Administrative divisions 40 counties (judete, singular - judet) and 1 municipality* (municipiu);Alba, Arad, Arges, Bacau, Bihor, Bistrita-Nasaud, Botosani, Braila, Brasov,Bucuresti*, Buzau, Calarasi, Caras-Severin, Cluj, Constanta, Covasna, Dimbovita,Dolj, Galati, Gorj, Giurgiu, Harghita, Hunedoara, Ialomita, Iasi, Maramures,Mehedinti, Mures, Neamt, Olt, Prahova, Salaj, Satu Mare, Sibiu, Suceava, Teleorman,Timis, Tulcea, Vaslui, Vilcea, Vrancea

Independence 1881 (from Turkey; republic proclaimed 30 December 1947)

National holiday National Day of Romania, 1 December (1990)

Constitution 8 December 1991

Legal system former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is nowbased on the Constitution of France's Fifth Republic

Suffrage 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
chief of state : President Emil CONSTANTINESCU (since 29 November 1996)
head of government: Prime Minister Victor CIORBEA (since 12 December 1996)
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister
elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election lastheld 3 November 1996, with runoff between the top two candidates held 17 November1996 (next to be held NA 2000); prime minister appointed by the president
election results: percent of vote - Emil CONSTANTINESCU 54.4%, Ion ILIESCU 45.6%

Legislative branch bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (143seats; members are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representationto serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Adunarea Deputatilor(343 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representationto serve four-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); Chamberof Deputies - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - CDR 30.7%, PDSR 23.1%, USD 13.2%,UDMR 6.8%, PRM 4.5%, PUNR 4.2%, others 17.5%; seats by party - CDR 53, PDSR41, USD 23, UDMR 11, PRM 8, PUNR 7; Chamber of Deputies - percent of voteby party - CDR 30.2%, PDSR 21.5%, USD 12.9%, UDMR 6.6% PRM 4.5%, PUNR 4.4%,others 19.9%; seats by party - CDR 122, PDSR 91, USD 53, UDMR 25, PRM 19, PUNR 18, ethnic minorities 15

Judicial branch Supreme Court of Justice, judges are appointed by the president on recommendationof the Superior Council of Magistrates

Political parties and leaders Democratic Party or DP [Petre ROMAN]; Romanian Social Democratic Partyor PSDR [Sergiu CUNESCU]; Party of Social Democracy in Romania or PDSR [Adrian NASTASE]; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR [Bela MARKO];National Liberal Party or PNL [Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS]; National Peasants'Christian and Democratic Party or PNTCD [Ion DIACONESCU]; Romanian NationalUnity Party or PUNR [Valeriu TABARA]; Socialist Labor Party or PSM [Ilie VERDET];Agrarian Democratic Party of Romania or PDAR [Victor SURDU]; The DemocraticConvention or CDR [Ion DIACONESCU]; Romania Mare Party (Greater Romanian Party)or PRM [Corneliu Vadim TUDOR]; Civic Alliance Party or PAC [Nicolae MANOLESCU,chairman]; Liberal Party '93 or PL-93 [Dinu PATRICIU]; National Liberal Party-DemocraticConvention or PNL-CD [Nicolae CERVENI]; Socialist Party or PS [Tudor MOHORA]
note: to increase their voting strength several of the above-mentioned partiesunited under umbrella organizations: PNTCD, PNL, and PNL-CD form the bulkof the Democratic Convention or CDR [Ion DIACONESCU]; PD and PSDR form theUnion of Social Democrats or USD [Petre ROMAN]; and PAC and PL-93 form theNational Liberal Alliance or ANL [Nicolae MANOLESCU]; PSM, PS, ANL, and numerousother small parties failed to gain representation in the most recent election

Political pressure groups and leaders various human rights and professional associations

International organization participation ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE, CEI, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9,G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat,Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG,OAS (observer), OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIKOM,UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US
chief of mission: Ambassador Mircea Dan GEOANA
chancery: 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 332-4846, 4848, 4851
FAX : [1] (202) 232-4748
consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York

Diplomatic representation from the US
chief of mission : Ambassador Alfred H. MOSES
embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest
mailing address: American Consulate General (Bucharest), Unit 1315, APO AE 09213-1315
telephone: [40] (1) 210 01 49, 210 40 42
FAX: [40] (1) 210 03 95
branch office: Cluj-Napoca

Flag description three equal vertical bands of blue (hoist side), yellow, and red; thenational coat of arms that used to be centered in the yellow band has beenremoved; now similar to the flags of Andorra and Chad

NOTE: The information regarding Romania on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Romania Government 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Romania Government 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.