Chamber of Deputies to elect speaker; PSD's Ciolacu announces his candidacy

The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies is to be elected today in a plenary sitting of the forum, with national leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu having joined the race, agerpres reports.

According to the schedule posted on the Chamber's website, the agenda of the plenary sitting, which starts at 11:00hrs, also includes the election of new members to the Standing Bureau to replace those also recommended for ministers in the Nicolae Ciuca Cabinet - Sorin Grindeanu, Alexandru Rafila, Marius Budai, and Florin Roman.

Ciolacu announced on Monday that he is running for the leadership of the Chamber.

"Tomorrow, I will submit my candidacy for the speakership of the Chamber of Deputies because a majority has emerged. I understand that Mr. Citu will run for chairman of the Senate," Ciolacu said.

On October 13, former PNL chairman Ludovic Orban stepped down as speaker of Chamber of Deputies after losing the party leadership in an election, and the office became vacant on October 18 after a plenary sitting voted on a vacancy decision.

The Standing Bureau decided that the speakership of the Chamber of Deputies be held on a rotation basis by the deputy speakers.

On November 2, PSD's Sorin Grindeanu took over the interim speakership. Previously, the National Liberal Party's Florin Roman held the office for two weeks.

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Under the regulations of the Chamber of Deputies, the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies is elected by secret ballot on ballot papers containing the first and last names of all the candidates recommended by the parliamentary groups. Each parliamentary group can make only one proposal. The candidate who gathers the vote of the majority of the MPs is declared speaker elect. If after two rounds no candidate clinches a majority vote, new elections will ensue, after which the candidate who gets the majority of the votes of the MPs in attendance will be declared speaker, provided that the quorum conditions for the sitting are met.

The members to the Standing Bureau are also elected by open vote.