Między konstytucyjną słabością a rzeczywistą siłą — rumuńska prezydentura w okresie sprawowania urzędu przez Traiana Băsescu

21 November 1991 is a date when the new constitution was adopted in Romania. According to its text, the legislative power belongs to bicameral parliament and the executive power is possessed by a popularly elected president and cabinet responsible before legislature. The relationship between two centres of the executive is characterized by an unbalanced distribution of power, which means that the constitution provides for the president a rather ceremonial role and primacy for the cabinet. However, we should remember that the law is very often verified by its practice. Because of this we should rather assume that despite the constitutional weakness a person who holds the office of the Romanian president may act as an active political player. To check whether such situation is possible, the author decided to analyse the course of presidency of Traian Băsescu.