The president’s proposal found little support, as the parties in power at the time did not have the necessary majority in parliament to be able to amend the Constitution. The idea to reduce the president’s term in office was however raised again on Monday evening at a meeting between Traian Basescu and the representatives of the new ruling coalition that holds a constitutional majority in parliament, namely the speakers of the two chambers, Crin Antonescu and Valeriu Zgonea, and prime minister Victor Ponta.

The three officials want the presidential election to be held at the same time as the elections for the European Parliament in May 2014, which they say would save the state a lot of money. In this case, the new president elect would either take over immediately, if the incumbent president agrees to step down earlier, or when the latter’s term comes to an end in December next year.

According to this scenario, as the daily Adevarul ironically comments, Romania would be an absolute first in world politics as a country with two presidents for 7 months, one in office and another in waiting. The newspaper also notes that in a press conference held on Wednesday, President Basescu appeared willing to negotiate a reduction of his term, but only if presidential and parliamentary elections are held at the same time. Having the elections at an earlier date would benefit the Social Liberal Union and in particular its presidential candidate, the Liberal leader Crin Antonescu, before their popularity starts eroding.

On the same subject, the newspaper Evenimentul Zilei mentions that the proposal to hold parliamentary and presidential elections on the same day was rejected last year by the Constitutional Court. The newspaper urges the ruling coalition to deal instead with the important problems Romania is facing, such as the economic crisis.

The newspaper Romania Libera also has doubts that the presidential election can be held earlier than stipulated by the law, and cites opposition and civil society representatives who criticise the new proposal. They say the ruling coalition is merely trying to make their position even safer and argue that the wish of a political alliance to get rid of the president would only increase confusion among voters and create the impression that the political crisis would never be over in Romania.