|
Romania President of the Republic
The 1974 amended Constitution created the office of
president
of the republic. Although listed below the GNA and the
State
Council, the president was the most powerful figure and
had the
authority to act on behalf of both the GNA and the State
Council.
Creation of the office was a watershed event in
Ceausescu's
methodical consolidation of power. Although he had held
the
position of head of state after 1967, it was only after
1974 that
he emerged as an international figure, launching an
energetic
career of foreign travel and diplomacy.
The official motivation for the PCR decision to
establish the
office of president was to improve the functioning of the
organs of
state power--both domestic and international. It was also
stressed
that the president would be able to exercise those
functions of the
State Council not requiring plenary meetings. In fact,
after 1974
rule by presidential decree became common practice.
On the recommendation of the Central Committee of the
PCR and
the Socialist Democracy and Unity Front, the president was
elected
by a two-thirds majority of GNA deputies. He represented
the state
in internal and international relations. And as chairman
of the
Defense Council, he was also the supreme commander of the
armed
forces. He was empowered to proclaim a local or national
state of
emergency.
Ceausescu greatly broadened the powers of the
presidency in
domestic political life. He appointed and recalled the
ministers
and the chairmen of other central bodies of state
administration.
When the GNA was not in session--that is, for most of the
year--he
appointed and recalled the president of the Supreme Court
and the
prosecutor general without even consulting the State
Council. He
frequently presided over the meetings of the Council of
Ministers,
and he usurped the State Council's power to grant pardons,
citizenship, and asylum.
The president's prerogatives in international relations
included establishing the ranks of diplomatic missions,
accrediting
and recalling diplomatic representatives; receiving the
credentials
and letters of recall of diplomatic representatives of
other
states; and concluding international agreements on behalf
of
Romania.
Data as of July 1989
|
