Prime Minister of Romania facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Prime Minister of the Government of Romania |
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Standard of the prime minister of Romania
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| Style | His/Her Excellency |
| Member of | Government of Romania Supreme Council of National Defence |
| Seat | Victoria Palace, Bucharest |
| Appointer | President of Romania |
| Term length | 4 years
No term limit
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| Inaugural holder | Barbu Catargiu as President of The Council of Ministers |
| Formation | 22 January 1862 |
| Salary | 288,000 lei annually (2022) |
The prime minister of Romania (Romanian: Prim-ministrul României) is the leader of the Government of Romania. Think of them as the main boss of the country's daily operations.
This important job was first called President of the Council of Ministers. This was because the "Government" used to include more than just the main group of ministers. The name officially changed to Prime Minister in 1965.
The person holding this job right now is Marcel Ciolacu. He became prime minister on June 15, 2023. He is part of the Social Democratic Party (PSD).
Contents
How a Prime Minister is Chosen
One of the main jobs of the President of Romania is to pick someone to be prime minister. The president usually talks to the political party that won the most votes in Parliament. If no party has a clear majority, the president talks to all the parties.
Once a candidate is chosen, they create a plan for how they will govern the country. They also pick the people who will be in their cabinet (their team of ministers). This plan and the team must be approved by the Parliament.
Parliament has ten days to approve the new prime minister and their team. Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (the two parts of Parliament) discuss the plan. For it to be approved, most deputies and senators must vote yes.
After getting Parliament's approval, the candidate officially becomes the prime minister. All the chosen cabinet members become ministers. The prime minister and their team then take an oath in front of the president. This oath means they promise to do their job well.
What the Prime Minister Does
The prime minister leads the government and makes sure all the ministers work together. They present reports and plans to Parliament about what the government is doing. As the head of the government, the prime minister guides the country's internal policies. They also lead the public administration, which means they oversee many government services.
A prime minister cannot hold most other jobs at the same time. However, they can also be a deputy or a senator in Parliament. A prime minister's term can end in several ways. They might resign, or Parliament might vote them out. Their term also ends if they lose their rights (like after a conviction), if they take another job that is not allowed, or if they pass away.
The prime minister can sign special orders called resolutions and ordinances. These orders become official when they are published in the Monitorul Oficial, which is like Romania's official newspaper. These orders are then sent to Parliament for review. If Parliament doesn't discuss or approve an order within 30 days, it becomes official. However, these emergency orders cannot change the constitution or affect basic rights.
In Romania, the prime minister is not directly controlled by the president. The president cannot simply fire the prime minister. The president can attend government meetings, especially when discussing important national issues like foreign policy or defense. If the president attends, they will lead that meeting.
Usually, the prime minister is also the leader of the main political party that forms the government.
Working with Parliament
The government, led by the prime minister, must give any information or documents that Parliament asks for. This helps Parliament keep an eye on what the government is doing.
Members of the government, including the prime minister, can attend Parliament meetings. They must go if the leaders of the Chamber of Deputies or Senate ask them to. The prime minister and their team must answer questions from deputies and senators. After these questions, Parliament can vote on a simple motion to show their opinion on a certain issue.
Parliament can also remove a prime minister and their cabinet from office. This happens through something called a "motion of no confidence." For this to happen, at least a quarter of the deputies and senators must sign a request. Then, a majority of all deputies and senators must vote to remove the prime minister.
If a motion of no confidence passes, the prime minister and their cabinet are officially dismissed. The president then has to choose someone new to form a government. Since 1989, five prime ministers have been removed this way: Emil Boc (2009), Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu (2012), Sorin Grindeanu (2017), Viorica Dăncilă (2019), and Florin Cîțu (2021).
History of the Office
The job of prime minister was first created in 1862. Back then, it was called the President of the Council of Ministers. This happened during the rule of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza. Cuza was special because he was elected Prince of Wallachia and Moldavia separately, which brought these two areas together.
By 1862, he had joined their governments into one, with Bucharest as the capital of the new country, Romania. Cuza wanted to keep his role as Prince neutral in politics. So, he created the prime minister position to lead the government. The first prime minister was Barbu Catargiu.
In the beginning, the prime minister had a lot of power. Catargiu's government was able to slow down some of Cuza's planned reforms. Cuza was frustrated by this. In 1864, he launched a special action (a coup d'état) and changed the country's constitution. This new constitution gave the Prince more power and made the prime minister his subordinate. Even so, the prime minister still had influence. For example, Mihail Kogălniceanu, the third prime minister, often disagreed with Cuza.
After Cuza was removed from power in 1866, Romania decided to bring a foreign prince to the throne. They also wrote a new constitution. The 1866 Constitution confirmed that the prime minister served at the Prince's will. This meant the Prince could appoint or dismiss the prime minister at any time.
After World War I, Romania grew larger, and a new constitution was written in 1923. This constitution limited the King's powers. It gave the executive power (the power to run the country) mostly to the prime minister and their cabinet. They now governed in the King's name. This new constitution also started to give Parliament more control over the government.
Prime Minister's Home
The official home and workplace of the prime minister is the Victoria Palace in Bucharest.
This palace was first designed to be the headquarters for the Foreign Ministry. During the communist period, it housed the Foreign Ministry and the Council of Ministers. In 1990, after the communist regime ended, it became the headquarters for Romania's first post-communist government.
Victoria Palace was recognized as a historical monument in 2004.
See also
In Spanish: Primer ministro de Rumania para niños
