PM Orban: PNL, to nominate Alina Gorghiu for Senate head

The National Liberal Party (ruling PNL, ed. n.) will nominate Alina Gorghiu for the leadership of the Senate, after the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR, ed. n.) ruled the election of current head Teodor Melescanu was unconstitutional, said on Wednesday Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. The premier added that Alina Gorghiu had already been voted in the PNL Political Bureau to run for this position. The CCR on Wednesday has ruled that the election of ALDE (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, ed. n.) senator Teodor Melescanu for the presidency of the Romanian upper house of Parliament, was unconstitutional. According to a release by the CCR, sent on Wednesday to AGERPRES, the CCR ruled in a plenary sitting on the challenge of unconstitutionality of the dispositions of the Senate Decision No. 36/ 2019 for the election of the President of the Senate, signed by 33 senators. "Following the deliberations, the Constitutional Court, by majority of votes, admitted the notification and found that the Senate Decision No. 36/2019 for the election of the President of the Senate is unconstitutional," the minutes of the Decision read. The challenge of unconstitutionality of the dispositions of the said Decision for the election of the Senate Chair drafted by 33 senators was discussed for the first time in the 16 October 2019 sitting. On 10 September 2019, Teodor Melescanu was elected in a plenary sitting as President of the Senate with 73 votes while Alina Gorghiu with the PNL got only 59 votes. On 11 September 2019, the ALDE leader Calin Popescu-Tariceanu was announcing that several MPs of the Opposition had signed a notification to the CCR regarding the way Melescanu had been elected at the helm of the Senate, with the support of the Social-Democrats at the time.AGERPRES(RO - authors: Dana Piciu, Mihai Stoica, editors: Florin Marin, Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Iacob)