Legal system: former mixture of civil law system and communist legal theory; is now based on the Constitution of France's Fifth Republic
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state : President Emil CONSTANTINESCU (since 29 November 1996) head of government: Prime Minister Victor CIORBEA (since 12 December 1996) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a four-year term; election last held 3 November 1996, with runoff between the top two candidates held 17 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); prime minister appointed by the president election results: percent of vote - Emil CONSTANTINESCU 54.4%, Ion ILIESCU 45.6%
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Parlament consists of the Senate or Senat (143 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation to serve four-year terms) and the Chamber of Deputies or Adunarea Deputatilor (343 seats; members are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation to serve four-year terms) elections: Senate - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000); Chamber of Deputies - last held 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2000) election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - CDR 30.7%, PDSR 23.1%, USD 13.2%, UDMR 6.8%, PRM 4.5%, PUNR 4.2%, others 17.5%; seats by party - CDR 53, PDSR 41, USD 23, UDMR 11, PRM 8, PUNR 7; Chamber of Deputies - percent of vote by party - CDR 30.2%, PDSR 21.5%, USD 12.9%, UDMR 6.6% PRM 4.5%, PUNR 4.4%, others 19.9%; seats by party - CDR 122, PDSR 91, USD 53, UDMR 25, PRM 19, PUNR 18, ethnic minorities 15
Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice, judges are appointed by the president on recommendation of the Superior Council of Magistrates
Political parties and leaders: Democratic Party or DP [Petre ROMAN]; Romanian Social Democratic Party or PSDR [Sergiu CUNESCU]; Party of Social Democracy in Romania or PDSR [Adrian NASTASE]; Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania or UDMR [Bela MARKO]; National Liberal Party or PNL [Mircea IONESCU-QUINTUS]; National Peasants' Christian and Democratic Party or PNTCD [Ion DIACONESCU]; Romanian National Unity Party or PUNR [Valeriu TABARA]; Socialist Labor Party or PSM [Ilie VERDET]; Agrarian Democratic Party of Romania or PDAR [Victor SURDU]; The Democratic Convention or CDR [Ion DIACONESCU]; Romania Mare Party (Greater Romanian Party) or PRM [Corneliu Vadim TUDOR]; Civic Alliance Party or PAC [Nicolae MANOLESCU, chairman]; Liberal Party '93 or PL-93 [Dinu PATRICIU]; National Liberal Party-Democratic Convention or PNL-CD [Nicolae CERVENI]; Socialist Party or PS [Tudor MOHORA] note: to increase their voting strength several of the above-mentioned parties united under umbrella organizations: PNTCD, PNL, and PNL-CD form the bulk of the Democratic Convention or CDR [Ion DIACONESCU]; PD and PSDR form the Union of Social Democrats or USD [Petre ROMAN]; and PAC and PL-93 form the National Liberal Alliance or ANL [Nicolae MANOLESCU]; PSM, PS, ANL, and numerous other small parties failed to gain representation in the most recent election
Political pressure groups and leaders: various human rights and professional associations
International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC, CE,
CEI, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO,
ICFTU, ICRM, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, NACC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS
(observer), OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNAVEM III, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO,
UNIKOM, UPU, WCL, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO,
WTrO, ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Mircea Dan GEOANA chancery: 1607 23rd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 332-4846, 4848, 4851 FAX : [1] (202) 232-4748 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles and New York
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission : Ambassador Alfred H. MOSES embassy: Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9, Bucharest mailing address: American Consulate General (Bucharest), Unit 1315, APO AE 09213-1315 telephone: [40] (1) 210 01 49, 210 40 42 FAX: [40] (1) 210 03 95 branch office: Cluj-Napoca