Radio România Internațional

Tag: postal voting

  • November 12, 2024

    November 12, 2024

    VISIT – Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, is paying an official visit to the UK on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he is expected to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and the Lord Mayor of London, Alastair King. According to a Government press release, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will also attend the Romania-UK Economic Forum, and will meet with representatives of the Romanian community. “The government is interested in consolidating the Strategic Partnership with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, in all fields of bilateral interest, responding to the changing challenges and opportunities. The Romanian community in the UK is big, and fostering the rights of our compatriots is a key pillar of bilateral cooperation”, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said. This is the first visit of a Romanian Prime Minister to the UK in 17 years.

     

    ELECTION – Some 200 postal votes for the parliamentary and presidential election in Romania have already arrived from Romanians living abroad and will be counted together with the other votes, the chairman of the Permanent Election Authority (AEP), Toni Greblă, has said. 6,650 citizens have demanded to vote by post and must send their options no later than two days before the start of the voting process proper. The first round of the presidential election is slated for November 24, the second round for December 8, while the parliamentary election will take place on December 1.

     

    INFLATION – The annual inflation rate climbed in October to 4.67% from 4.62% in September, the National Statistics Institute reports. Foods prices went up by 4.75%, while prices for non-food products also increased by 3.45%. Services also went up 7.66%. The National Bank of Romania has upgraded its inflation estimate for the end of 2024, from 4% previously to 4.9%. The Bank expects the inflation rate to go down to 3.5% at the end of 2025, according to a report made public by Governor Mugur Isărescu this Monday. On the other hand, Romania’s trade deficit went up 15% in the first nine months of 2024, reaching some 23.5 bln EUR, the National Statistics Institute reports. Exports have exceeded 69 bln EUR, a 1.4% drop. Imports totaled nearly 93 bln EUR, accounting for a 2.3% increase.

     

    GOTECH WORLD – Officials and representatives of the business sector are attending the opening of GoTech World 2024, an event hosted by Bucharest over November 12-13. This year’s edition of B2B Expo brings together over 120 experts from the sector and nearly 100 exhibitors. Organizers expect a turnover of some 15,000 guests. GoTech World (previously known as Internet & Mobile World) is the biggest conference and expo in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as a regional hub for digital economy, providing professionals from the region with access B2B tech solutions, insight into various digital fields and networking opportunities.

     

    ENESCU – For the first time in the history of Romania, all four violins owned by composer George Enescu will be on the same stage in November 2024, as part of a national tour. The violins are currently in the collection of the “George Enescu” Museum in Bucharest and are classified as “national treasures”. The tour kicks off on November 12 at the Culture Palace in Iași (northeast).  Gabriel Croitoru will be performing on the 1731 “Cathedral” Guarnieri del Gesù violin, Simina Croitoru on the 1931 Paul Klaul violin, Paul Răducanu on the 1930 Paul Klaul and Mircea Dumitrescu on the 1835 Frères Pierre and Hippolyte Silvestre. The tour will then  travel to other cities across the country, before moving to Bologna (Italy). The four violins were donated to the Romanian state by George Enescu’s wife, Maria Cantacuzino-Enescu, upon the foundation of the Museum in 1956.

     

    HEARING – The remaining six European Commissioners, designated for the positions of European Commission executive vice-presidents, including Romania’s nomination, Roxana Mînzatu, are today taking part in hearings before the European Parliament’s special committees. Designated European Commission Executive Vice-President for People, Skills and Preparedness, will appear before the Committee for Labor and Social Affairs, and before the Committee on Culture and Education. According to Agerpres, Romanian MPs from various political groups say EU Commissioners will pass today’s hearings with little effort.  (VP)

  • Guidelines for postal voting

    Guidelines for postal voting

     

    The Romanian foreign ministry posted on its home page the guidelines for postal voting in this year’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

     

    Under the document, the deadline for Romanian living abroad to register as voters by mail is October 10 for the presidential ballot and October 17 for the general elections. The ministry reminds citizens that postal voting is an alternative to voting in polling stations, and is conducted via postal services.

     

    According to the foreign ministry, all Romanian eligible voters living abroad may vote by mail if they have registered for this option in the Electoral Register (at www.votstrainatate.ro). Registration may be done via an online form on that website, the authorities explained. All the necessary information may also be found on the foreign ministry’s home page, under the sections “Elections for the President of Romania” and “Elections for the Senate and Chamber of Deputies,” respectively.

     

    So far, around 4,300 applications have been received for postal voting in the presidential election, and some 4,000 for the parliamentary election.

     

    As for voting in polling stations abroad, little over 6,000 voters have registered for each of the 2 rounds of the presidential election.

     

    According to the president of the Permanent Electoral Authority, Toni Greblă, approx. 900 polling stations will be set up outside Romania, where around 5 million ballots will be printed. “The fact that a Romanian citizen with a temporary or permanent address abroad has not registered for voting in a particular polling station does not prevent them from voting anywhere they might be on election day,” he also explained.

     

    Moreover, for the presidential ballot the Romanian nationals who are on holiday or transiting a foreign country may vote in any polling station.

     

    The final list of polling stations abroad for the presidential election will be made public on the websites of Romanian embassies and of the foreign ministry on September 28.

     

    The voting process abroad in the first round of the presidential ballot will be open for 3 days, between November 22nd and 24th, while in the second round polling stations outside the country will be open between December 6th and 8th.

     

    As for the parliamentary election, Romanian nationals living abroad will be able to cast their ballots on November 30th and December 1st.

     

    According to the Permanent Electoral Authority, the total number of eligible voters in the Electoral Register is close to 19 million, approx. 960,000 of whom have temporary or permanent residence outside the country. (AMP)

  • September 16, 2020 UPDATE

    September 16, 2020 UPDATE

    COVID-19 – Romania reports
    over 107,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in late
    February. 471 patients are in intensive care, out of nearly 6,900 hospitalized
    across the country. So far the death toll stands at 4,285. Meanwhile, 2 days
    after the start of a new school year, several schools in the country went into
    the so-called red scenario, with all classes held online, after teaching staff
    tested positive for Covid-19. In Romania the green scenario involves in-person
    classes, and the yellow scenario is a blend of online and face-to-face
    teaching. In other news, the Health Ministry announced purchasing double the
    amount of flu vaccines compared to last year. Three million vaccine doses will
    be given for free, especially to people over 65, to chronic patients,
    particularly those with respiratory and heart conditions, to institutionalized
    children and elderly, to healthcare personnel and pregnant women.




    REPORT – The report of the
    Budget and Finance Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate
    regarding the budget adjustment law has been approved. The report will next be
    submitted to debate and vote in Parliament. Acting on the proposal of the
    Social-Democrats, who are currently holding majority in Parliament, MPs in the
    Committee repealed the article providing for a 14% increase in the pension
    point, which means the law on the public pension system still stands. The
    latter stipulates at 40% increase of pensions starting this autumn. MPs also
    voted for an increase in the base salaries of teaching staff starting this
    year.




    ELECTION – President Klaus Iohannis on
    Wednesday called on Romanians living in the Diaspora to register for postal
    voting for the legislative election, saying there are no guarantees polling
    stations would be opened in all countries. Also on Wednesday, the President
    ratified a law allowing Romanians abroad to vote for the legislation election
    of December over the course of two days. The vote can be extended until
    midnight on the second day, but only for those voters inside the polls.
    Romania’s Foreign Minister has also recommended to all Romanians residing abroad
    to opt for postal voting, the safest and simplest way allowing them to exercise
    their constitutional right to vote in the delicate context generated by the
    COVID-19 pandemic.




    TALKS – Foreign Minister
    Bogdan Aurescu on Wednesday had talks with his counterpart from Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides. The two
    officials appreciated the level of bilateral relations, expressing an interest
    to boost political and diplomatic dialogue as well as sectorial cooperation.
    Minister Bogdan Aurescu underlined the importance of the Romanian community in
    Cyprus, which represents a bridge between the two countries, hailing
    cooperation at the level of the Diaspora, including a Memorandum of
    Understanding signed in 2018 in this field, which is yielding real benefits.




    FLIGHTS – The Foreign Ministry in
    Bucharest announced that commercial flights to and from Poland will resume
    starting Wednesday. The measure adopted by Warsaw authorities will be in place
    until September 29, as Poland is taking new measures regarding incoming and
    outgoing flights in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry also
    states that people traveling to Poland from another EU Member States, as well
    as from Norway, the Swiss Confederation, the Republic of Iceland and the
    Principality of Lichtenstein are still permitted entry to this state without
    being subject to other restrictions or special measures such as compulsory
    quarantine or self-isolation.




    STATE OF THE
    UNION – European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday
    delivered her first state of the union address before the European Parliament
    in Brussels. The coronavirus pandemic and the uncertainty it brings is not
    over, and the people of Europe are still suffering. It is a period of profound
    anxiety for millions, von der Leyen pointed out. The European official
    expressed her gratitude towards doctors and nurses and every other worker in
    the front line, who are taking risks so others won’t. Ursula von der Leyen
    announced the Union will create its own biomedical agency for advanced research
    and development, dubbed BARDA. Leyen
    said she would call a global health summit, due to take place next year in
    Italy. President von der Leyen went on to say that the Green Deal will be the
    engine of the EU’s economic recovery, in addition to digitization. The European
    official said the Single Market is key to economic recovery, aiming to replace
    coal with hydrogen, thus helping achieve a climate-neutral economy. Ursula von
    der Leyen also announced the European Commission is proposing to increase the
    2030 target for emission reduction to at least 55%.




    TENNIS – Romanian tennis
    player Simona Halep, world no. 2, on Wednesday got through to the round of 16
    at the WTA tournament in Rome, where she is seeded first. Simona defeated
    Jasmine Paolini of Italy (99 WTA) 6-3, 6-4. Also in the women’s singles, Irina
    Begu (77 WTA) will play Johanna Konta (13 WTA) of Great Britain on Thursday. In
    the women’s doubles, Romanian Raluca Olaru and Anna-Lena Friedsam of Germany
    qualified to the quarterfinals after defeating Miyu Kato of Japan and Sabrina
    Santamari of the Untied States, 6-4, 6-3. Also in the doubles, Simona Halep and
    Monica Niculescu will play Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara of Japan in the round
    of 16. Totaling some €1.7 million dollars, the tournament in Rome is a Premier
    5 competition and is unfolding with the full observance of pandemic-prevention
    measures.




    (Translated by AM Popescu & V. Palcu)





  • Election Campaign for the Romanian Parliament

    Election Campaign for the Romanian Parliament


    This year, the Romanian parliamentary elections will be held under new legal provisions. The most important change is that deputies and senators will be elected in a party-list proportional representation system, which was abandoned 12 years ago. The uni-nominal voting system, which proved unsuitable for the Romanian political life, and which generated confusion in the 2008 and 2012 elections, is thus no longer in force.The new law also stipulates that there should be less MPs in Parliament, more specifically 466 as against 588 at present, accounting for 134 seats in the Senate and 308 in the Chamber of Deputies, plus 18 MPs representing national minorities other than the Hungarian one, whose representation is guaranteed irrespective of the number of votes they get. Also, there are new rules regarding representation, which means that there will be 1 deputy for every 73 thousand citizens and 1 senator for every 168 thousand.



    The increasingly numerous Romanian Diaspora, estimated at over three million people, will continue to be represented by 2 senators and 4 deputies. A first in the election law is the introduction of postal voting for the Romanians with their domicile or residence abroad. The envelopes with the documents they need in order to be allowed to vote have already been sent to the Romanian citizens who registered with the Electoral Register. Ion Barbu, a director with the Romanian Post National Company has told Radio Romania that the first vote of a Romanian citizen living abroad has already been registered.



    Ion Barbu: “I can confirm that a voter from Austria has already sent the envelope with the ballots containing his options. The Electoral Bureau for Postal Voting will store the envelope until the Election Day, December 11th, when the envelope will be opened and the votes counted.”



    6,493 people are competing for a seat in Romanias Parliament. Most candidates represent parties from the current parliament, that are expected, according to opinion polls, to make it to the next parliament as well. The Social Democratic Party clearly dominates the left wing and is expected to win the elections. The right-of-centre National Liberal Party represents the only threat to the leftists supremacy, while the Alliance and Liberals in Romania, the Peoples Movement Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania gravitate around the 5% electoral threshold. Formed around an NGO that turned into a party, the Save Romania Party is seen by pundits as one of the most important new factions, with real chances of entering Parliament. Except for political parties, 44 independent candidates have entered the race.



    This election is highly important, pundits say, not only because it will generate the next government majority due to take over the helm from the current technocratic cabinet, but also because depending on the competence and honesty of the next MPs, parliaments image may be rehabilitated. This is something Romanias parliament badly needs given its low popularity among Romanians, triggered by endless corruption scandals involving high-level politicians.




  • Political attitudes in an election year

    Political attitudes in an election year

    The 2014 presidential election brought to the fore the Romanians in the Diaspora, who went to the polls in large numbers, imposing a change of attitude in the politicians relationship with average citizens. In the run up to the local and parliamentary elections due this year, it was normal for further concerns to exist for improving the election system by enforcing postal voting and other measures in order to make peoples participation in the ballot more accessible, transparent and safer.



    Attending Mondays parliamentary debate on that topic, technocrat Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, announced that by the end of the week, the Government would submit to Parliament a plan of measures on postal voting. He said that that the Foreign Ministry had already submitted to public consultation relevant documents regarding the Romanians residing abroad so that citizens might provide additional information. Concurrently, the Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Electoral Authority have started an awareness-raising campaign. The Prime Minister said that the Government takes full responsibility for organizing the elections in the Diaspora.



    “The Government Im heading has taken responsibility for organizing the elections in an unbiased way, after the previous governments were repeatedly accused of faulty organization. However, the Government will organize the elections on the basis of the legislation passed by Parliament, because Parliament is the forum where debates take place and decisions are made to amend the election legislation. Anyway, in the present democratic system, the Government cannot interfere and amend the legislation all by itself, without Parliaments consent.



    The Prime Minister made the statement after the National Liberal Party had called on the Government to issue an emergency ordinance amending the law whereby mayors are elected in a single ballot. The Social-Democratic Party dismisses the proposal, accusing its political opponents of aiming to amend the law in their own interest.



    The Social-Democratic Party, which had to give up power last November, says amending the election law just only a few months before the local elections is inadmissible. Caught between the parties antagonistic options, the Government feels duty-bound to remind the political leaders that only Parliament, through a majority vote can amend the laws. Dacian Ciolos:



    “Those who want the citizens to have more confidence in Parliament and its capacity of representing the debate in society, such a discussion in Parliament and the vote in Parliament on those bills would only benefit democracy in Romania.



    This political attitude would be welcome now, when society firmly assumes the viewpoints on a new political construction in Romania.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The Week, November 16-22

    The Week, November 16-22

    The Priorities of the New Government


    The new Government of Romania, headed by Dacian Ciolos, started working after receiving the confidence vote of a large Parliamentary majority. In the medium and long run, the Government is to draw up the 2016 budget bill and to organise the parliamentary and local elections due next year. The priorities also include a 10-year investment plan, a national development strategy, reforms in public education and healthcare.



    The Government also wants to strengthen the role of the country in the EU and NATO, to consolidate and extend the strategic partnership with the USA, and to support the European accession efforts of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova. Romanians expect quite a lot from the new Cabinet, made up of experts from the private sector or European institutions. President Klaus Iohannis has briefly presented these expectations:



    Klaus Iohannis: “This is your chance to prove how to govern Romania properly, in a very complicated year and with high expectations from the society and from the people. But you must also be aware of the expectations of politicians. I firmly believe that everybody wants everything to run like clockwork, and for this to happen we need an efficient government



    The Social Democratic Party Reviews Its Position


    Monday was a moment of review and reflection for the Social Democratic Party, whose former head, Victor Ponta, led a succession of coalitions with his party at the forefront for the last 4 years. The new chairman, Liviu Dragnea, did the accounting for his partys period of leadership, saying that the successive Ponta cabinets took over in 2012 an economy struggling out of crisis, managing to set economic growth to 3.8%, one of the highest in the EU. Right now the budget deficit is 1.5% of the GDP, as compared to 5.4% in 2011. Liviu Dragnea went on to provide more detail:



    Liviu Dragnea: “Romania borrowed little from abroad and the domestic market, because the economy went well. The GDP went from 133 billion Euro to 158 billion Euro in 2015. In this way, the Ponta Government managed to have money for two things that are fundamental: to increase purchasing power for most Romanians, by boosting income and reducing taxation, and to bolster business by correct measures included in the Fiscal Code.“



    Many, however, blame Ponta for a perpetually conflicting relationship with former president Traian Basescu, to the detriment of the country, for alleged corruption, and for losing the run for the presidency in 2014.




    Postal Voting for Romanians Living Abroad

    Romanias Constitutional Court ruled unanimously that the new law on postal voting is in conformity with the countrys Constitution, and President Klaus Iohannis endorsed it on Thursday. The document provides for the voters with their residence abroad wishing to cast their votes to register with the Election Registry by means of an application filed personally or sent by mail to the diplomatic mission or consulate in their country of residence. Registration is not available on-line.



    The alternative offered by postal voting aims to fix the irregularities marring the November 2014 presidential elections, and to allow thousands of Romanians to express their option. The first application of the law comes in next years parliamentary elections. If it proves itself, it may be broadened to apply to the presidential and European Parliament elections as well.



    Romania and the Fight against Corruption


    Terrorism is effective only when it strikes fear into the hearts of people, says president Klaus Iohannis, referring to last weeks tragic terrorist attacks in the French capital city, which also killed two Romanians.



    Klaus Iohannis: “If we were to let ourselves be overwhelmed by fear, only then would terrorists achieve their true goal, and we shouldnt let this happen. We should not let xenophobia, ultra-nationalism and chauvinism govern our societies. On no account must we allow this fear to breed hate speech against a religious community that was in no way related to the attacks.



    An ally and friend of France at NATO and EU level, Romania has joined in the measures adopted by the international community in an attempt to prevent such tragic events from happening. The president said that no special measures will be taken concerning the Muslim population in Romania, out of respect for ethnic and religious minorities. Most Tartar and Turkish ethnics are clustered in the south-east, and the 70,000 Muslims residing in Romania are a model of integration and loyalty towards the Romanian state.



    Colectiv Fire Death Toll Rises


    Three weeks after the Colectiv nightclub fire in Bucharest, the death toll continues to rise, closing in to the 60 mark. Of the 40 patients with burn injuries being treated in hospitals in Bucharest, over 10 are in critical care. Another 30 patients were transfered to medical units abroad. The fire at the Colectiv nightclub broke out during a rock concert attended by several hundred people. A large number of people died from their burn injuries, while many others after becoming intoxicated with a deadly mix of gases resulted from the fire.

  • Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Romania’s Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the postal voting law is constitutional and rejected the appeal filed by some MPs. Passed at the end of October, the law, which gives Romanian citizens living abroad the possibility to vote by mail, comes to fix the flaws in the organisation of the voting process abroad.



    Thus, in the presidential election last November, thousands of Romanians faced the cold and the rain in long queues in front of the Romanian embassies and consulates abroad and many didn’t even manage to cast their ballots. The queues turned into spontaneous protests, and in Paris and Turin security forces used tear gas to disperse the angry voters. In Bucharest, the scandal led to the resignation of two foreign ministers while their boss, the then prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta, lost the election to his Liberal contender, Klaus Iohannis. The latter included, among the priorities of his presidential mandate, the adoption of a law that should introduce a more reasonable voting system for Romanian citizens abroad.



    The law was finally adopted, after numerous talks at parliamentary level, after mutual accusations had been publicly levelled against each other, by the Social Democrats, in the ruling coalition, and the Liberal opposition, after resignations and hunger strikes in the parliament committee that drew up the bill. In a first stage, the postal voting law will only apply to the Romanian parliamentary election next fall, and, if it proves effective, this voting system will also be used in the presidential and EP elections. Initiated by the Permanent Electoral Authority, the bill stipulates that voters residing or living abroad, who wish to vote by mail, must register in the Electoral Registry following an application submitted in person or mailed by post to the Romanian diplomatic mission or consular office in their country of residence.



    The version of the bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies eliminates the possibility for online voter registration, a provision that formed part of the earlier version passed by the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies also adopted an amendment saying that disclosure of the confidentiality of the vote and voting on behalf of another person are punished by law. The Permanent Electoral Authority has hailed the decision by the Constitutional Court, that deems the law constitutional and said its enforcement at the parliamentary election in 2016 is a victory for democracy, as it comes to support millions of Romanians living abroad.

  • Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Postal Voting for Romanians Abroad

    Romania’s Constitutional Court has unanimously ruled that the postal voting law is constitutional and rejected the appeal filed by some MPs. Passed at the end of October, the law, which gives Romanian citizens living abroad the possibility to vote by mail, comes to fix the flaws in the organisation of the voting process abroad.



    Thus, in the presidential election last November, thousands of Romanians faced the cold and the rain in long queues in front of the Romanian embassies and consulates abroad and many didn’t even manage to cast their ballots. The queues turned into spontaneous protests, and in Paris and Turin security forces used tear gas to disperse the angry voters. In Bucharest, the scandal led to the resignation of two foreign ministers while their boss, the then prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, Victor Ponta, lost the election to his Liberal contender, Klaus Iohannis. The latter included, among the priorities of his presidential mandate, the adoption of a law that should introduce a more reasonable voting system for Romanian citizens abroad.



    The law was finally adopted, after numerous talks at parliamentary level, after mutual accusations had been publicly levelled against each other, by the Social Democrats, in the ruling coalition, and the Liberal opposition, after resignations and hunger strikes in the parliament committee that drew up the bill. In a first stage, the postal voting law will only apply to the Romanian parliamentary election next fall, and, if it proves effective, this voting system will also be used in the presidential and EP elections. Initiated by the Permanent Electoral Authority, the bill stipulates that voters residing or living abroad, who wish to vote by mail, must register in the Electoral Registry following an application submitted in person or mailed by post to the Romanian diplomatic mission or consular office in their country of residence.



    The version of the bill passed by the Chamber of Deputies eliminates the possibility for online voter registration, a provision that formed part of the earlier version passed by the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies also adopted an amendment saying that disclosure of the confidentiality of the vote and voting on behalf of another person are punished by law. The Permanent Electoral Authority has hailed the decision by the Constitutional Court, that deems the law constitutional and said its enforcement at the parliamentary election in 2016 is a victory for democracy, as it comes to support millions of Romanians living abroad.

  • October 26, 2015 UPDATE

    October 26, 2015 UPDATE

    ACCIDENT – Romanias president Klaus Iohannis on Monday announced he had advised Interior Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea to resign. The announcement follows after on week ago a police officer died in an accident while leading the official motorcade escorting Oprea. Also on Monday, Gabriel Oprea said was travelling on official business. He emphasised that any speculations that he was using an official escort without legal grounds were completely unfounded. After the accident, the Prosecutors Office has started an investigation for involuntary manslaughter. On Sunday, almost 1,000 people took part in a rally in Bucharest to express their solidarity with the policemans family. They called for the resignation of minister Gabriel Oprea, as did a number of NGOs and the Liberal opposition, who are planning to call for a vote of no-confidence in this case.



    CORRUPTION – Involvement in criminal activity and money laundering are the latest charges anti-corruption prosecutors have brought against the suspended mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu on Monday. Oprescu was placed under pre-trial arrest on September 7. Prosecutors claim Oprescu received 25,000 euros in bribes, getting involved in the activity of an organized crime group in the local administration, claiming a portion of the profits of companies bidding for public contracts.



    POSTAL VOTING – According to political sources in Bucharest, the Chamber of Deputies will debate the bill on postal voting on Wednesday. A week ago, the Senate passed the proposal, backed both by the Social-Democratic Party in the ruling coalition and the National Liberal Party in opposition, with a large majority. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe have criticised the bill. Senate Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu says the bill does not comply with the article in the Constitution according to which the vote is universal, equal, direct and secret, and thus can be appealed at the Constitutional Court. The postal voting system is to be used in the parliamentary, presidential and European elections and only applies to voters who reside or live abroad. Several months before elections, voters must enlist with the Election Registry Authority. Under the bill, a postal voting bureau will be made available for every 10,000 voters.



    INVESTMENT – Romania must improve its business environment to reduce companies hidden costs and one important means of achieving this is by improving its public administration, said the head of the European Commission Representation in Romania Angela Filote at a foreign investors forum in Bucharest. In recent years, Romania has grown faster than other EU states, but this growth must be backed by local and foreign direct investment, as well as investment in high added value areas such as research and innovation, Filote also said. Romania must win back its place on the map of foreign investors and its good current economic situation should be taken into account, said the state secretary in the Department for Foreign Investment and Private-Public Partnership, Alexandru Nastase. He explained that direct foreign investment in Romania amounted to 2.4 billion euros in the first eight months of the year, which shows an increase compared with 2014. The Foreign Investors Summit in Bucharest brings together experts from fields such as finance, IT and communications, real estate and the auto industry and comes to an end on Thursday.



    STATISTIC – Some 90,000 unemployed managed to get a job between April and July in Romania, reads a quarterly analysis of unemployment rates published by the Eurostat. Of the 22 million unemployed reported at the end of the first quarter in Europe, over 4 million managed to find a job in the second quarter, while another 4 million stopped looking for a job, becoming inactive.



    TENNIS – Romanian tennis player WTA no. 2 Simona Halep is playing Maria Sharapova of Russia on Tuesday in the second match at the WTA Finals in Singapore. On Sunday, in the first match, Halep outperformed Flavia Pennetta of Italy 6-0, 6-3, while Sharapova won in three sets, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 against Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland. In the WTA Race standing published on Monday, Halep has a 4,000-point lead over no.1 player Serena Williams of the United States, and a 1,200-point lead over Garbine Muguruza of Spain, WTA 3rd ranked. Another 4 Romanian players are in the WTA Top 100. Irina Begu went down two places to 31st place, Monica Niculescu is one place lower than last week in 46th place, Alexandra Dulgheru went up two spots to 56th place, while Andreea Mitu has gone down six spots to 99th place.



    EXERCISE – Until November 6th, more than 1,800 Romanian military and 300 US military are taking part in the Justice Sword exercise at the Smardan shooting range near Galati, in southeastern Romania. The exercise provides training to achieve harmonisation of tactics and procedures and improve confidence in equipment and group cohesion. Another exercise, called Dragoon Crossing Romania, is coming to an end today in Arad County, in the west. 250 Romanian and 170 US military have taken part in this exercise, whose aim is to demonstrate the interoperability between the two armies and develop abilities of planning, leadership and execution as part of water-crossing operations.

  • The Week in Review: October 19-24

    The Week in Review: October 19-24





    IMF experts are in Bucharest



    An IMF delegation has this week held
    talks with high-ranking officials in Bucharest. The IMF has forecast a budget
    deficit of 3% of the GDP in 2016 and also a higher rate for 2017, due to
    significantly slashed taxes and duties as well as pay rises announced by the
    authorities. The IMF has recommended that the deficit for 2016 be limited at a
    rate of 1.5%. Upon meeting president Klaus Iohannis, the IMF representatives
    voiced reservations about the approval of a new loan agreement. IMF experts
    have also briefed the senators and deputies in the budget committees on the
    talks with government representatives. The IMF’s only objections are related to
    structural reforms and a potential
    exceeding of the budget deficit. Prime Minister Victor Ponta has
    underlined that Romania will observe the 1.86% target deficit approved by
    Parliament. Romania’s latest agreement with the IMF, which expired in 2015, was
    worth two billion euros, but the authorities didn’t access any of the available
    funds.







    The Romanian Foreign Minister pays a
    visit to Palestine and Israel




    Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu paid an
    official visit to Israel and Palestine on Monday and Tuesday. Aurescu was
    received by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Monday. The two
    officials tackled the present situation in the Middle East and the prospects of
    resuming peace talks with Israel. In Jerusalem, Bogdan Aurescu met with Israeli
    Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Romanian official
    said that rebuilding trust was a prerequisite for resuming peace talks with the
    Palestinians and reiterated an appeal for defusing tension in the region. The
    two officials reconfirmed the privileged relations between Romania and Israel
    and tackled cooperation in various fields such as the military and cyber
    security. The Romanian minister also met with members of the community of
    Romanian-born Israelis.







    The Parliament in Bucharest hosts debates on postal voting






    A bill on postal voting is being debated
    upon in the decision-making Chamber of Deputies in Bucharest. The legislative
    proposal enjoyed a landslide Senate approval; both the Social Democrats, the
    main party in the coalition government and the National Liberal Party, the main
    opposition party, backed the bill. This
    kind of voting will be made available only to Romanians residing abroad, who
    will be casting their ballot in Parliamentary, Presidential and EU Parliamentary
    elections. Voters must enlist in the Election Registry a couple of months
    before the election. The document, drawn up by the Permanent Election
    Authority, provides for the setting up of a postal election bureau for every 10
    thousand voters. Organizational malfunction had prevented thousands of
    Romanians living abroad from casting their ballot in the presidential election
    of November 2014; many of them had been standing in queues for hours before the
    election booths, and didn’t even manage to vote for their candidate.







    Former president Ion Iliescu and other
    former high-ranking officials are indicted for the events of
    June 1990.




    Romania’s former president Ion Iliescu
    has been placed under investigation for crimes against humanity in a file on
    what is known as the Miners’ Raid on Bucharest over June 13th and 15th.
    The raid stifled a wide-scale protest rally against the left-wing government,
    which came to power after the fall of the communist dictatorship in Romania.
    Investigations have been launched in the same file against Virgil Magureanu,
    the then head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, former Prime Minister Petre
    Roman and also former ministers Victor Athanasie Stanculescu and Gelu Voican
    Voiculescu. Against the backdrop of violent incidents in Bucharest, which the
    army had already managed to contain, Iliescu invoked a far-right coup attempt,
    calling on the population to defend the democratic institutions. The
    president’s call was responded by miners based in Jiu Valley, central Romania,
    who stormed the University, some opposition party headquarters and some
    independent publications offices. The incidents ended in four official deaths,
    hundreds of wounded people and over 1,000 abusive arrests. Last year the
    European Court of Human Rights issued a decision asking Romania to carry on
    investigations in the miners’ raid of June 1990.







    The Romanian Government endorses the second budget adjustment this year

    The Romanian government has endorsed the
    second budget adjustment this year. According to a bill drafted by the Finance
    Ministry, incomes and spending will each rise by roughly 2.6 billion lei, with
    a deficit of around 1.85% of the GDP. The Ministry of Agriculture will get most
    of the money, about 770 million lei, while the social insurance budget fund
    will be enlarged in order to support the pay rises due to come into effect as
    October 1st. The Ministries of Regional Development and Public
    Administration, as well as the European Funds, Education and Labour Ministries
    will also benefit from increased funds. 1.61 billion lei are to be taken from
    the Transport Ministry but the National Railway Company and Metrorex, running
    the Bucharest tube network, will get additional funds. The Liberals have been
    quick to complain that funds have again been slashed from the road
    infrastructure.





    Public Sector employees whose salaries
    were cut in 2010 get their money back




    Under a recent court ruling, teachers,
    magistrates and public sector employees who won legal trials against the former
    government led by Emil Boc will get their money back, in the form of amounts
    declared by the court as enforceable titles. Prime Minister Victor Ponta
    announced the budget surplus this year allows for these payments to be made in
    advance, so employees will not have to wait until 2016. Public sector employees
    had their wages slashed by 25% in 2010 due to the crisis.





  • Postal voting, debated in Parliament

    Postal voting, debated in Parliament

    Nearly a year after the presidential election in Romania, which sparked a huge scandal that went beyond the countrys borders, the Parliament in Bucharest is preparing to pass the draft law on postal voting. It took queuing for hours in front of embassy buildings abroad, with hundreds of thousands of Romanians still not being able to cast their vote, for the Romanian political class to take action.



    The scandal resulted in two Foreign Ministers losing their mandate and entailed heated debates in Parliament. Power and opposition accused each other of lack of action, delaying the vote and ill will. On Monday however, the Senate passed the draft law on postal voting. Drafted by the Permanent Election Authority and sanctioned by parliamentary parties, the document stipulates that people residing abroad who want to vote by post in legislative, presidential or European elections shall register with the Election Bureau either in a written letter submitted to the local embassy or by filling in an online form. Liberal Senators have welcomed the project. Liberal Senator Ion Popa says the law had been much anticipated in the Diaspora:



    “I can see the efforts of Liberal MPs, also including our token strike, have not been futile, and therefore I want to thank Social-Democrat MPs for their wise choice. It is a law the Romanians have long expected.



    In turn, Social-Democrat Senator Mihai Fifor underlined the importance of the law:



    “I will refer to a promise we have kept, a promise the Social-Democratic Party made to voters in the Diaspora, to Romanians there, and which we are keeping today. We pledged to submit the law to Parliament within a week, and today, ladies and gentlemen, the law stands before you, flawed as it may be, but it will reach the Chamber of Deputies. There it can be further amended.



    Even so, the draft law was not passed unanimously. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania and the Liberal-Conservative Group ALDE did not vote in favour, arguing the bill raises a number of questions. As for president Klaus Iohannis, he hailed the passing of the law by the Senate, expressing hope the bill will be passed next week. President Klaus Iohannis:



    “I am very happy the Senate voted the draft law on postal voting and I continue to hope the parties will be just as enthusiastic about it, and that by next week we will have such a law.



    The draft law will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this matter.

  • October 19, 2015 UPDATE

    October 19, 2015 UPDATE

    Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will meet on Tuesday in Bucharest with a delegation of the International Monetary Fund. The IMF representatives have already discussed with Romanian Finance Ministry officials about the state budget for 2016. Last week, Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici said he considered the possibility of signing a new accord with the IMF. As of 2009 and up to present Romania has forged three consecutive loan agreements with the IMF and the EU. The last one expired last month.




    British Prime Minister David Cameron presented on Monday his governments counter-extremism strategy, designed to tackle fanatics and hate preachers and restrict their activities. According to this new strategy, parents of children aged 16 and 17 have the power to request the cancellation of passports if they suspect their children are under the influence of extremists. Also, anyone with a conviction or civil order for extremist activity will be automatically barred from working with children and vulnerable people. British police estimate that at least 700 people from the UK have travelled to support or fight for jihadist organisations in Syria and Iraq such as Islamic State.




    Romania’s Senate ratified on Monday an Accord on the reimbursable loan of 150 million euros granted to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, an ex-Soviet state with a majority Romanian-speaking population. Romanian senators unanimously voted in favor of the Accord, which had already been green-lighted by deputies. Moldova needs Romania’s financial assistance to finance its budget deficit estimated at 3.8% of the GDP in 2015. The Republic of Moldova is shaken by a huge scandal as its former Prime Minister, Vlad Filat, has been arrested for his alleged direct involvement in the disappearance, from the banking system, of 1 billion dollars.




    The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas received Romania’s Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu on Monday in Ramallah. The two officials discussed about the current situation in the Middle East and the possibility for peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis to be resumed. Previously, the Romanian official visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum in Jerusalem, whose representatives voiced appreciation at the measures taken by Romania to combat anti-Semitism. In Israel, Aurescu met with the country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss ways to consolidate bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields such as investment, energy, tourism and agriculture.




    The Romanian Senate passed the postal voting bill on Monday. The bill was supported by both the Social Democrats, in power, and the Liberal opposition. The postal voting system will be used in the parliamentary, presidential and European elections and only applies to Romanian citizens residing or living abroad. The bill has been sent for approval to the Chamber of Deputies, as the Parliaments decision-making body.

  • October 18, 2015

    October 18, 2015

    The Social Democratic Party, the largest partner in the ruling coalition in Romania, is to elect, in a special congress today, its new National Standing Bureau, after having validated Liviu Dragnea as party president. After winning the party election last Saturday, he proposed a new leadership structure for the Social Democratic Party, with a smaller National Standing Bureau having slightly different powers. Running for the second highest position in the party, executive president, are the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Valeriu Zgonea, and the former economy minister, Constantin Niţă. The congress is to validate the proposed changes of the party statute, including a provision that forbids a member to hold more than one position in the party. The National Council will become a specialised body, in charge with coordinating the work of the various departments.



    In Bucharest, Monday morning is the last chance for Senators to table amendments to the postal voting bill. Later on the same day the document is to be discussed by the Senate in a plenary meeting, and subsequently it will be forwarded to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. The bill was drafted by the Standing Electoral Authority and stipulates postal voting can be used in parliamentary, presidential and European elections next year, by the Romanian citizens who reside abroad. Six months before the election, voters must notify the relevant embassies or consulates of their intention to vote, and they will be included in an Electoral Register. The Liberals, the main party in Opposition, and the Social Democrats in power support the bill. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania believes the law generates disparities between the Romanians living abroad and those in the country, whereas the co-president of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, opposes postal voting, which he sees as too complicated and cumbersome.



    In Chişinău, magistrates are to decide today on the arrest of Moldovas former Liberal Democratic PM Vlad Filat. He was detained by prosecutors under corruption and influence peddling charges, and the detention warrant expires this afternoon. Criminal proceedings were started on Tuesday, after businessman Ilan Shor, accused for the theft of one billion US dollars from the countrys banking system, wrote a self-incrimination report stating he had transferred to Vlad Filat around 250 million USD in exchange for decisions that would have favoured his companies, and for misuse of authority in the Savings Bank affair. Vlad Filat said his prosecution had political purposes.




    The immigrant crisis is the main topic on the agenda of a visit made to Ankara by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is to discuss this with the President and the PM of Turkey. Angela Merkel Friday voiced openness to making some concessions to Turkey, which wishes to be viewed as a safe country by the Europeans, in exchange for Ankaras help in curbing the influx of migrants. The EU Thursday agreed on an action plan in this respect with Turkey, which is currently the gateway into Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants. Brussels wants Turkey to strengthen security on its border with the Union, to stem the inflow of migrants and refugees. In exchange, Europe will provide financial support and stronger ties, including the prospect of easier travel visas for Turkish citizens. France Presse mentions that Germany opposed Turkeys EU accession.



    Switzerland elects today the members of its two-chamber Parliament, in a vote in which the immigration issue was the main concern. Voting by post, available to most citizens, was opened two weeks ago. According to opinion polls, right-wing parties are likely to see their weight in the Swiss Parliament increased further to this ballot. The Socialist Party is also expected to stay firm and preserve its runner-up position. Smaller parties and the Greens will likely lose seats as support for the right wing is growing.

  • The debates on the postal voting law

    The debates on the postal voting law


    The Social Democrats have promised, on behalf of the ruling coalition, that the Electoral Code Committee would draft the postal voting bill by next week. This announcement was made after the coalition and the opposition traded accusations of delaying the debate on this bill, which should be passed by the end of November in order to be used in the 2016 elections.



    The Social Democratic Party, the major force in the ruling coalition in Romania, has promised to draft the postal voting bill by next week. The Social Democrat MP Gabriel Vlase is now the chairman of the Electoral Code Committee following the resignation of the Liberal MP Mihai Voicu to protest against the delays in the passing of the bill. The leader of the Social Democrat MPs Marian Neacsu promised, on behalf of the ruling coalition, that the committee would come up with a feasible bill by mid next week, a bill that could then be submitted to Parliament for debate and approval.



    Marian Neacsu: “I reiterate the commitment made here and on behalf of the committee chairman, the Permanent Electoral Authority and my colleagues from the other parliamentary groups that the relevant committee will come up with a feasible bill to solve the problem of Romanian voters abroad.”



    The representatives of the Social Democratic Party have taken these measures following a token strike initiated by the Liberal MPs in opposition on Monday so as to speed up the passing of the bill. The Liberals accused the Social Democrats of postponing a debate on the bill, while the latter warned that the Liberal Party had sufficient time to promote the bill while holding the chairmanship of the Electoral Code Committee. The leader of the Liberal MPs Eugen Nicolaescu has criticised the fact that the decision on the appointment of a new chairman of the Electoral Code Committee failed to include a deadline for the drafting of the postal voting bill.



    Eugen Nicolaescu: “We have taken note of the commitment made by the leader of the Social Democratic group, Marian Neacsu, that the committee would come up with a bill by the middle of next week. No clear deadline has been established so we will see if the deadline we have set will be met.”



    The postal voting bill has to pass by early November in order to be used in the legislative elections of 2016. Romanian voters abroad in particular have insistently called for such a bill to prevent the problems encountered during last year’s presidential elections from occurring again. At the time, many protests against the Social Democratic government were held over long queues at voting stations abroad and the fact that people were sometimes unable to cast their votes.

  • Dissensions over Postal Voting

    Dissensions over Postal Voting

    After last years shortcomings in the presidential vote organized in polling stations outside Romania, when tens of thousands queued for hours in order to cast their votes, the entire political class agreed at the time on the need to pass the law on postal voting, in order to prevent such things from happening again. A huge scandal arose at the time targeting the Social-Democrat Government. Nearly a year later, little has been done to right those wrongs.



    The power and opposition accuse each other of deliberately obstructing the adoption of this draft law in endless public disputes. In order to be valid for the 2016 election, the law on postal voting needs to be adopted by the beginning of next month at the latest, says Alina Gorghiu, the co-president of the National Liberal Party.



    Alina Gorghiu: “This token strike is a symbolic gesture. This is our last hope to see something happen over the course of the next weeks. Im also relying on President Iohannis to call parties to consultations. We will continue this effort until postal voting is adopted. We will work, attend Parliament sessions and vote on this topic, but we will ignore all other points on the Parliaments agenda.



    Also as a sign of protest, Liberal MP Mihai Voicu stepped down from the helm of Parliaments Election Code Committee, given that the committee members have failed to reach a consensus on postal voting.



    At the other end, Social-Democrat interim leader Liviu Dragnea points the finger at the Liberals: “The National Liberal Party has rejected our request to appoint a representative to this committee so that it may continue to function. We are working on this and will have a law that should observe two principles: ensure the right to cast their vote for all Romanians abroad, and to ensure the safety of this vote.



    Liberal MP Andreea Paul also said that all Romanians have a right to vote, and that Victor Ponta surely didnt forget he lost the presidential election to the Romanians living in the Diaspora. “The law on postal voting is a hot potato in the hands of the ruling coalition, Andreea Paul went on to say, adding that the Liberals went on a token strike to speed up procedures to adopt the law on postal voting. In response to these accusations Social Democrat Senator Mihai Fifor labeled the Liberals token strike a “cheap political maneuver.