Leading Edge Governance in Romania Should anyone care what Romania does? The country contains 238,400 km² (92,000 square miles) which would make it twice the size of Pennsylvania or somewhere between Minnesota and Michigan in size. It is currently the 9th largest European country and home to a population of just over 19 million (more later on this). More than 10% live in and around Bucharest: in addition to the human costs, it is never good when your capital (and largest) city, fianancial and communications center, transportation hub and cultural heart is slammed by an earthquake. Nicolae Ceaușescu came to power in 1965. No one, least of all the Russians, quite knew what to make of him. He maintained diplomat relations with Israel after its victory in 1967; publicly disagreed with the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and became a player in Middle Eastern politics. It suffices to say that there were a great many ups and downs during the 24 years Ceaușescu held power. Romania’s economic oscillations have increased in the last 20 years: it is a member of NATO and of the European Union as well as owing the most money to the International Monetary Fund: as of May (amounts in billions of euros) Romania 11.8; Ukraine 10.3; Greece 10.2; Hungary 8.5; Pakistan 6.3; Ireland 5.6; Turkey 4.1 and Belarus 2.5. The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms. He appoints the prime minister, who in turn appoints the Council of Ministers. There are two legislative bodies: the Senate with 140 members, and the Chamber of Deputies with 346 members. Both are elected every four years under a system of party-list proportional representation. This is fairly standard – what could possibly go wrong?