Senate (Greater Romania)
The Senate ( Senatul ) was the upper house of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Romania from 1919 to 1940, with its seat in Bucharest . In addition to the Senate, there was also the Chamber of Deputies in the bicameral parliament as a second chamber.
The Senate had three groups of members:
- Elected Senators
- Senators ex officio (e.g. the regional bishop of the German Evangelical Church , the Grand Rabbis of Romania) and
- Senators by law
Beginnings (from 1864)
On the initiative of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, a previously drawn up constitution was confirmed by a referendum in May 1864. In 1866, the Constitution of Romania proclaimed constitutional monarchy as a Romanian form of government based on national sovereignty and separation of powers. The legislature should be exercised by the king and a bicameral parliament with an assembly of representatives and a senate. The House of Lords was called the Senate or Camera Senatului .
1919 to 1922
In the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 had Romania reached extensive territorial expansion. On November 2, 1919, parliamentary elections were held for Greater Romania. The legal basis was the election regulations for the old kingdom and Bessarabia of November 14, 1918 , the election regulations for Transylvania , Banat , etc., of August 24 (or 26?) August 1919 and the election regulations for Bucovina of August 24, 1919.
When voting, men aged 40 and over had the right to stand as a candidate. The Senate consisted of 236 senators.
On April 25-27 May 1920, June 1, 1920 and June 3, 1920 the second elections were held. As of 1920, the Senate consisted of 168 senators.
1922 to 1939
| Election date | Legislative period | Mandates |
|---|---|---|
| May 1926 | 1926 to 1927 | 250 |
| June 1927 | 1927 to 1928 | 113 |
| December 1928 | 1928 to 1931 | 113 |
| June 1931 | 1931 to 1932 | 113 |
| July 1932 | 1932 to 1933 | 113 |
| December 1933 | 1933 to 1977 | 113 |
| 1937 | 1937 to January 18, 1938 | 113 |
On February 10, 1938, King Carol II dismissed the government and set up a royal dictatorship . That day he dissolved parliament. On March 31, 1938, all parties were banned.
1939 to 1940
After the party ban , the Frontul Renașterii Naționale (FNR) was the only party approved. In the elections in June 1939 the senators were "elected" from the ranks of the FNR. The Senate now consisted of 176 senators. The legal basis for the election was the constitution of February 2, 1938 and the electoral law of May 9, 1939.
From June 7, 1939 to September 6, 1940 there was an appointed parliament. When the Iron Guard under Ion Antonescu came to power on September 4, 1940, parliament was dissolved.
post war period
After the Second World War and the incorporation of Romania into the Eastern Bloc , a Romanian People's Republic was formed. There was a unicameral parliament , the Great National Assembly . Only in 1989 was a new Senate established in Romania.
literature
- Mads Ole Balling: From Reval to Bucharest - Statistical-Biographical Handbook of the Parliamentarians of the German Minorities in East Central and Southeastern Europe 1919-1945, Volume 2, 2nd edition. Copenhagen 1991, ISBN 87-983829-5-0 , p. 567 ff.