Law Change for One Man Only

President Ion Iliescu will be able to run for Parliament in the fall elections because the Electoral Committee decided to change the elections law.

The Committee said that the incumbent president could run as an independent candidate on the list of a political party if he is in the last months in office.

This means Iliescu is the only one to benefit from such changes to the law, since from 2008 the president would have a five-year mandate, while the Parliament will change every four years.
Though the opposition National Liberal Party and Democrat Party did not agree to the changes, the Committee adopted the amendment with a majority of votes.
Furthermore, Iliescu would not have to worry about campaign funds: "We will campaign for him," said Viorel Hrebenciuc, parliamentarian of the ruling Social Democrat Party.

The Committee also decided that the representatives of the ethnic minorities would have to get 3,500 votes for a seat in the lower house of parliament.