[1] Voters were asked whether they approved of reducing the size of the army and cutting military spending by 5%.

[1] Following a proposal by President Nicolae Ceaușescu, on 23 October 1986 the Great National Assembly changed the constitution to allow for referendums, whilst the voting age was lowered to 14 years.

The human and financial resources saved were allocated to economic and social development programs.

Military assets were redeployed, such as tanks were disarmed and used in agriculture and to enhance irrigation programs.

Ceaușescu appealed to European states, the United States of America, and Canada to also unilaterally reduce armaments, troops, and military expenditures by 5%, in the belief that such a reduction would not compromise their defensive military capabilities, but would help facilitate dialogue for disarmament negotiations.