Blockage in Parliament on the appointment of the new People's Advocate. PSD proposed, AUR voted / Daniel Zamfir's explanation

On Tuesday, Parliament was supposed to vote for the new People's Advocate, new members in the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) and a person to replace Mihai Busuioc (who became a CCR judge) at the Court of Accounts. PSD, however, requested on Monday evening, for the last hundred meters, the postponement of these appointments.

In an online meeting of the United Permanent Bureaus (BPR) of the Parliament, organized at the PSD's request, the Social Democrats' proposal passed.

“The signatories hereof request you to convene the meeting of the United Permanent Bureaus of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, exclusively online, on March 9, 2026, at 8:00 p.m., with the following agenda: 1. Postponement of parliamentary procedures (hearings in specialized committees and the joint plenary session) for appointments to some public institutions and authorities, scheduled for March 10, 2026,” the document said convening the meeting online, consulted by HotNews, which had this single point.

The PSD request was voted by the AUR and the national minorities, according to HotNews sources.

PNL and USR voted against, and UDMR abstained, HotNews sources said.

The PSD move also comes in the context where sources from the party led by Sorin Grindeanu told HotNews, the other day, that the social democrats do not agree with the proposal made by the USR for the position of People's Advocate.

According to the protocol of the PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR-Minorities coalition, the appointment of the People's Advocate belongs to the USR.

The 5-year mandate of the current head of the People's Advocate, Renate Weber, expired in June 2024. Until March 6, parliamentary groups could submit nominal proposals for this position, then the Legal Commissions were to hear the candidates and draw up a joint report by today, March 9, according to the originally announced calendar.

At the Court of Accounts, there is a vacancy for an accounts adviser after the departure of Mihai Busuioc.

USR proposed Roxana Rizoiu, human rights expert, for the position of People's Advocate.

PSD explanation

“That's exactly why we postponed, to give them (ed.: those from the USR) time to reflect, because we said it from the beginning: you can't have double language,” PSD senators' leader Daniel Zamfir told HotNews on Monday evening.

“On the one hand, to be against pensioners and special pensions and on the other hand to propose a special person, a retired person at 40 or so years old, as the Ombudsman,” Daniel Zamfir said.

Hat: Parliament must appoint a new Ombudsman this week

USR requested the appointment in Parliament, this week, of a new People's Advocate, USR senator Ștefan Pălărie said earlier on Monday, noting that Renate Weber not only accumulated “black balls”, but also reached “the threshold of two years past the expiration of the mandate”.

Pălărie said in a press conference that Renate Weber has several “black balls”, noting that in March 2020, the USR asked her to refer to the special pensions, and she did not do it.

He also said that Renate Weber did not respond to USR's referrals from September 2023, “when the Ciolacu Government issued the ordinance that totally violated the principle of fiscal predictability and added new taxes” nor in January 2024 regarding “sick mothers and children”.

“A People's Advocate must support the people, for this he is paid”, added Pălărie, according to Agerpres.

The USR senator accused that Renate Weber did not react even regarding the collusion of the elections.

“We are not only talking about Mrs. Renate Weber's black balls, we are also talking about the soon completion of a 2-year limit beyond the expiration of the mandate. That is precisely why, this week, the Romanian Parliament must make a decision as quickly as possible and let Mrs. Renate Weber go home and a new People's Advocate with a full mandate, to do his job,” emphasized Pălărie.

Asked if the USR proposal has support in the coalition, considering that the PSD could ask for a postponement of the vote, Pălărie said that he had not heard this.

“There was clearly an agreement of the governing coalition for this appointment algorithm, I was part of a discussion of the governing coalition in November, when they were discussing the completion of this process on exactly the same grounds, namely Mrs. Weber must go home, she no longer fulfills at the moment, even the guarantee period for a nomination has passed, we need to close the subject of the People's Advocate. I believe that if the votes are not granted in the basis of a given agreement, that is a gesture of maximum political irresponsibility. You cannot do politics, you cannot rise to the level of responsibility of leading a country, a people, if your words are not equivalent to the deed”, stated Pălărie.

Grindeanu rejects the USR proposal

Also on Monday, the president of the Social Democratic Party, Sorin Grindeanu, said that the Social Democrats will not support the USR's proposal for the People's Advocate if the nominated person benefits from a special pension. He stated that he does not agree with the name that has been circulated recently for the occupation of this position.

Grindeanu was asked if on Tuesday he will support in Parliament the candidate for the position of People's Advocate proposed by the USR.

“I agree that the proposal must come from the USR. (…) You know that I do not agree (with the USR's proposal that has been circulated so far for the People's Advocate – no) and I announced publicly. We are not changing our minds. The USR can come up with another proposal that does not have a special pension. I understand that for 10 years some have supported these things, but when it comes to applying them they get in the way. Then I said that maybe our proposal It's good for them. They should start with them, I mean people who don't have special pensions in these positions, I think that someone who doesn't have a special pension should meet the criteria. Let them not have a special pension this requirement, we will vote if no, no”, said Grindeanu at PSD headquarters.