The Council for National Unity enacted a new constitution for Romania in November 1991, and the document carried many of the hallmarks of Soviet-era constitutions, granting rights in some articles and revoking them in others. However, the legal system is now generally based on the constitution of France's Fifth Republic.
The present arrangement has a directly elected president who serves for a maximum of two four-year terms; he is head of state. Among the president's powers is the right to name the government, which is headed by a prime minister.
The legislature is made up of two houses, the Senate, with 143 seats, and the Assembly of Deputies, with 346 seats; members of both bodies are directly elected on a proportional representation basis to serve four-year terms.
The 1991 constitution affords the Romanian judiciary independence, however, in practice the judiciary is influenced by the executive branch.
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