More than 15 years after Romanians voted in a referendum to reduce the number of members of parliament, politicians in the country are once again returning to the topic, which, however, risks creating tension in the ruling four-party coalition, local media report, BTA writes.
In May, the Union for the Salvation of Romania (USR) - one of the parties in the coalition, submitted a draft law to this effect, after several similar initiatives remained unimplemented over the years, but it too faces a blockage: the opposition of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (DUSR) - another party in the coalition, Digi 24 television notes. The DUSR is even threatening to leave the coalition, which also includes the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Liberal Party (NLP), if it is given the project's progress, which would deprive it of a significant number of mandates.
On May 28, 2025, parliamentarians from the SSR submitted a draft law that provides for the maximum number of members of the bicameral parliament to be reduced to 300 people - 200 people in the Chamber of Deputies and 100 people in the Senate, compared to the current total of 464 parliamentarians (330 deputies and 134 senators).
They recall that this is the "popular will" expressed in a referendum that took place at the end of 2009 together with the presidential elections. At that time, the majority of participants in the poll, which had two questions, supported the idea of moving to a unicameral parliament (nearly 78 percent of voters) with a maximum of 300 members (nearly 89 percent of voters). The referendum, which was consultative in nature, was declared valid after the required turnout (50 percent plus one of those eligible to vote) was reached, but did not lead to any legislative changes.
At a meeting with senators from his NLP this week, Prime Minister Ilie Bologjan asked them to support the SSR project when it comes to voting in specialized committees and in plenary. However, the topic has caused dissatisfaction within the coalition, notes Digi 24. However, he insisted on preserving the positions of representatives of national minorities, who currently number 19.
"The NLP will vote for 300 parliamentarians. This is an election promise that was present in the last election campaigns (...), but representatives of national minorities should keep their seats, this is a good practice in Romania", said the leader of the NLP senators, Daniel Fenechiu.
The television indicates that if the project is adopted, it would mean a reduction in the number of parliamentarians from all districts, but the smallest party in parliament - the SDS - would be the most affected, since the number of deputies and senators elected from districts with a predominantly Hungarian population would be halved.
"There is no agreement in the coalition on this project. If we start making projects without consent, then what else do we need a coalition for?", commented a DSUR MP to Digi 24, who requested anonymity.
Representatives of the party also point out that the results of the referendum also provide for a transition to a unicameral parliament, which is not provided for in the draft submitted by the SSR.
"The SSR proposal, which says it respects the popular vote, is a lie. If you want to initiate changes to the constitution, then let's close the Senate. If not, you are just making a populist move", the quoted MP from the DSUD also points out.
For his part, Alexandru Rafila, a MP from the largest parliamentary party - the SDP, stressed that "talks about reducing the number of parliamentarians should not be used for political pressure".
"There needs to be a broader discussion, because this reduction in the number of parliamentarians to 300, which was voted on 16 years ago (...), envisages a significant amendment to the constitution, because we need to move to a single chamber. When we talk about such major changes to the constitution, which also require a broad majority in parliament, then there should obviously be a thorough discussion," Rafila pointed out, quoted by Agerpres.
The second largest party in parliament - the far-right opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) - agrees with reducing the number of parliamentarians to 300, G4Media notes. The leader of AUR deputies, Mihai Enache, said that this is one of the points in the party's governing program.
"How many years have passed and how many governments have been in power and have not implemented the will of Romanians? This is one of the points of our governing program - reducing the number of parliamentarians to 300, as decided by the Romanian people. But unfortunately, everything that is happening with these measures is just political games for their negotiations in the coalition, in order to preserve their various privileges," commented the AUR representative.
Digi 24 reminds us that the idea of moving to a smaller and more flexible parliament has been raised several times over the years by major political alliances, but has been abandoned each time. In 2011, a proposal to reduce the number of parliamentarians to 388 was discussed, and in 2018, a draft was submitted to the Senate, providing for only 300 MPs, but it never reached a vote in the Chamber of Deputies. In 2019, there was also a similar attempt, when a citizens' initiative was announced on the topic, but it also did not lead to a result.