The president of the

Senate of Romania ) is the upper house in the bicameral Parliament of Romania. It has 136 seats (before the 2016 Romanian legislative election the total number of elected representatives was 176), to which members are elected by direct popular vote using party-l ...

is the senator elected to preside over the Senate meetings. The president of the Senate is also the president of the Standing Bureau of the Senate, and the first person in the presidential line of succession.

Election

The president of the Senate is elected by secret ballot with the majority of votes from the senators. If none of the candidates obtains the necessary votes, the first two compete again, and the one with most of the votes wins.

Role

* Calls the Senate in session (ordinary or extraordinary); * Presides the Senate meetings, assisted by two secretaries; * Represents the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

in the relation with the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

, the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ...

* Represents the Senate in the foreign relations; * Succeeds (ad interim) the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

if the latter resigns, is suspended, incapacitated or dies in office. (They continue to be president of the Senate during the ad-interim presidency of the country. They act as

until a new president is elected.)

History

1864–1866

Between 3 July 1864 and 1 June 1866 the Upper House of the

Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

was called ''Corpul Ponderator''. Members were nominated by the

domnitor ''Domnitor'' (Romanian pl. ''Domnitori'') was the official title of the ruler of Romania between 1862 and 1881. It was usually translated as "prince" in other languages and less often as "grand duke". Derived from the Romanian word "''domn''" ...

, based on the proposals of the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

1866–1946

The upper house was called ''Senat'' or ''Camera Senatului''. Most of the Senators were elected, some were senators by right (''senatori de drept''), as established by the 1866 Constitution. Voters and members had to be at least 40 years of age, except the heir to the throne, that was senator at 18 years, and allowed to vote in the Senate at 21.

1946–1989

In 1946

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operate ...

were called only for the Assembly of Deputies (''Adunarea Deputaţilor''), as the 1923 Constitution was re-empowered with some modifications. After the overthrow of the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

and the establishment of the communist republic, the upper house was dissolved and disbanded.

1990–present

The upper house is called ''Senat'' and is headed by a president.

List of officeholders

Ad interim (

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

) officeholders are denoted by ''italics''. The Rule of the Senate states that at the first standing of the house, the meeting is headed by the eldest senator and helped by the youngest senator. Those bear the title of ''Interim President of the Senate'', and, as their term is very short (one or two days), they are not listed. The interim officeholders listed have hold the office in different circumstances and for a longer time (i.e. than one or two days). They were actually

Vice Presidents A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

standing as caretaker President during a vacancy. The caretaker Vice Presidents during the two impeachments of

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservatism, conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions ...

in April–May 2007 (

Doru Ioan Tărăcilă Doru may refer to: * Doru (name) * ''Doru'' (genus), a genus of earwigs * Doru Shahabad, a town in Anantnag District, Jammu and Kashmir, India * Dory (spear) The ''dory'' or ''doru '' (; el, δόρυ) is a spear that was the chief spear of h ...

o and in June–July 2012 (

Petru Filip Petru Filip (; born 23 January 1955 in Slobozia, Romania) is a Romanian politician, member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). Since 2008, he has been a member of the Senate, representing Bihor County. Biography Filip served as mayor of Orade ...

) are also listed in the table below. The political stance of presidents of the upper house prior to the development of a modern party system is given by the following key/legend: The political stance of presidents of the upper house after the development of a modern party system is given by the following key/legend:

Notes

References

{{President of the Senate of Romania Romania, Senate *