A bill initiated by a PNL MP and a PSD MP raises the electoral threshold from 5% to 7% / Mikó Imre Association: It means the elimination of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) from the Romanian political sphere

A bill tabled on Wednesday in the Chamber of Deputies raises the electoral threshold from 5% to 7% and proposes to abolish the so-called alternative threshold which allowed the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) to enter Parliament if it obtained a threshold of 20% in four counties. The explanatory memorandum to the bill, tabled by MPs Radu Cristescu (PSD) and Adrian Cozma (PNL), cites the need for „political stability”. It also increases the electoral threshold for electoral or political alliances, which will have to obtain at least 10% of the votes, compared to 8% under the current law. Increasing the electoral threshold would directly affect the UDMR, which would be eliminated from parliament, according to an analysis by the Mikó Imre Association.

„This would create huge problems for the UDMR, which usually gets around 6% of the vote, and would prevent the Hungarian community from sending its political representatives to the Romanian legislature. The PSD and PNL say they „want to create more stability in Romania, to reduce the fragmentation of the political spectrum”, but if this bill is passed in Parliament, it means the elimination of the UDMR from Romanian politics. One year before the elections, members of the Hungarian community consider this approach extremely hostile, preventing members of the Hungarian community from being part of the Romanian legislature, but also preventing members of the UDMR from being part of the Romanian government in the future,” says an analysis by the Mikó Imre Association.

„The results of the elections held in the last 20 years at the Chamber of Deputies and Senate level have led to a significant political fragmentation. This has had repercussions on the difficulty of forming stable parliamentary majorities that would generate political stability and governmental stability. For example, in the last two parliamentary terms alone, 2016-2020 and 2020-2024, the Romanian Parliament has given the vote of investiture to seven governments. In practice, the average duration of a government was approx. 1 year. This political and governmental instability has also had consequences on economic stability, on the vision for the implementation of policies with non-reimbursable external funding, as well as on external political and economic relations.

Taking into account the fact that in 2024 elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate will be held at the end of the term and that in the current international context Romania needs political and economic stability for the next electoral cycle, we propose the following legislative amendments:

– Increase the electoral threshold from 5% to 7% of the total valid votes cast at national level to ensure stable majorities and governmental stability;

– the elimination of a discriminatory provision in Article 94, paragraph (2), i.e. the coexistence of another threshold („20% of the total valid votes cast in at least 4 electoral constituencies for all electoral competitors”), given that senators/deputies represent, according to the Romanian Constitution (Article 61), the Romanian people in their entirety, not only in 4 electoral constituencies”.

• „Sole Article – In Article 94, paragraph (2), of Law no.208/2015 on the election of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, as well as for the organization and functioning of the Permanent Electoral Authority, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 553 of 24 July 2015, with subsequent amendments and additions, letter a) is amended and will read as follows:
  a) 7% of the total valid votes cast at national level”.

The bill was also signed by PNL MPs Alexandru Muraru, a close ally of President Iohannis, Cristina Burciu, Laurențiu Cazan, Maria Stoian, Ervin Molnar, Florian Dumitru and Luminița Barcari.