Radio România Internațional

Tag: referendum on the judiciary

  • Reactions to Sunday’s election

    Reactions to Sunday’s election

    Often criticized
    for their overt apathy and lack of civic participation, Romanians were the
    victors of Sunday’s European Parliament election. Half of them voted in the
    election, which represents an all-time high, and 41% voted in the referendum on
    the judiciary called by the president, thus exceeding the 30% threshold
    required to validate the referendum. At the referendum Romanians were asked
    whether or not they agreed to forbidding amnesty and pardon for
    corruption-related offenses, as well as forbidding emergency decrees targeting
    the justice system. Images of endless Romanians standing in line abroad, trying
    to exercise their constitutional right to vote, went viral online. Some of them
    did manage to vote, despite standing in line for hours, feeling frustrated and
    angry, all the more so as the same happened at the presidential election of
    2014, when Romanians in the Diaspora also waited for hours in line to cast
    their vote. This is why President Klaus Iohannis and the main opposition parties
    in Romania, the National Liberal Party and the 2020 Save Romania Union – Plus
    Alliance have called on the left-of-center Government to step down. The
    President congratulated Romanians for the good voter turnout, saying their vote
    has conveyed a clear message to the political class. Klaus Iohannis:


    You have cast a clear and
    powerful vote that no politician in Romania can ignore. You have voted for fair
    policy-making, for an upright judiciary, for an independent judiciary, for good
    governance, to the benefit of Romanians and Romania.


    Sunday’s ballot
    has overthrown the political rankings in Romania. The National Liberal Party is
    now in top position, followed by the Social-Democratic Party. The 2020 Save
    Romania Union – Plus Alliance is now in third place. The Pro Romania Party, the
    People’s Movement Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
    Romania will also be represented in the new European Parliament. The Social-Democratic Party has lost not just
    20% of the votes they received at the legislative election of 2016, but also
    their coalition partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats from Romania,
    who failed to reach the 5% threshold. Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea
    thanked Romanians who voted for the Social-Democratic Party and reiterated his
    support for the governing program, admitting however the result is not a
    satisfying one. Commonly seen as the number one beneficiary of the cascading
    changes brought to the criminal legislation, Liviu Dragnea said he has never
    questioned the referendum on the judiciary.


    The party must conduct swift
    and comprehensive analyses. Regarding the referendum, today I voted in the
    referendum as well. Like I’ve said on several occasions, I am not against the
    referendum and I am not against the topics it proposed. Romanian society never
    had a debate concerning the fight against corruption or any other related
    topics.


    Liberal leader
    Ludovic Orban believes the results of the European Parliament election and the
    referendum reflect the will of Romanian citizens.


    Starting today, no political leader will dare speak of amnesty, pardons or
    destroying the justice system by means of emergency degrees. I am grateful to
    all Romanian citizens who cast their votes and who voted for the National
    Liberal Party.


    The president of
    PLUS Party, Dacian Ciolos, in turn hailed Sunday’s vote, which he considers
    proof of the country’s revival, while his coalition partner, Dan Barna, the
    president of Save Romania Union, said the results are a huge win for Romania.


    This reaction is the element
    on which we can further build our future. This referendum shows that when the
    decent forces of society unite, the President, opposition parties who’ve never
    stopped believing that the justice system should remain independent, such a
    referendum can pass, confirming that the judiciary must remain independent and
    Romania must remain a part of Europe.


    The Pro Romania
    party passed its first election test, becoming the 4th political
    faction in Romania. Pro Romania President Victor Ponta believes the result
    shows Romania is ready for a change.

    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • April 5, 2019 UPDATE

    April 5, 2019 UPDATE

    PRESIDENCY – President Klaus Iohannis has
    condemned the latest anti-Semitic gestures and actions and called on the relevant authorities to take firm action to sanction
    them. In a press release the presidency recalls Romania stands out as a
    regional successful model in terms of preserving the memory of the Holocaust,
    owning to the past, combating anti-Semitism, negationism, xenophobia, hatred,
    racism, populism and discouraging hate speech. Prior to this statement, Israeli
    President Reuven Rivlin condemned the vandalization of some 70 tombs in the
    Jewish Cemetery in Husi, northeastern Romania, one of the most serious such
    anti-Semitic offences this year. The Israeli official recalled that Bucharest
    auhtorities are taking measures to coutneract anti-Semitism and xenophobia.
    Meanwhile, the Israeli media has quoted the president of the Federation of
    Jewish communities in Romania, Aurel Vainer, who said such anti-Semitic events
    are unacceptable and are affecting democracy in Romania. The US Embassy in
    Bucharest has in turn unequivocally condemned the act of violence in Husi,
    claiming this is not just an attack on the Jewish community, but on the
    diversity of the entire Romanian society.






    REFERENDUM – Also on Friday President Iohannis has called a round of consultations
    with political parties on April 11 and 12 over the referendum on the judiciary.
    On Thrsday, the President announced that the themes which he would submit to
    the vote at the May 26 referendum, held simultaneously with the European
    Parliament elections, are related to forbidding amnesty and pardon of
    corruption crimes and forbidding the government to pass emergency decrees
    related to criminal offences and punishments, correlated with the right of
    other authorities to notify the Constitutional Court over such decrees.






    VISIT – Two-way trade between Romania
    and Slovakia has for the first time exceeded 3 billion euros at the end of
    2018, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said Friday after meeting with Slovakian
    Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini. Talks focused on developing bilateral
    cooperation in various fields such as education, energy, culture, home affairs,
    public administration, tourism, environment, healthcare and agriculture. In
    turn, Prime Minister Pellegrini expressed hope that bilateral economic and
    political relations would intensify. The two officials met in Banska Bystrica,
    where the Romanian official paid a floral tribute in the National Insurrection
    Square. Viorica Dancila then travelled to the city of Zvolen for a visit to the
    local military cemetery where the remains of 10 thousand Romanian soldiers, who
    fought for the liberation of Czechoslovakia in WWll, are buried.






    B9 INITIATIVE – Romania’s Defense Minister Gabriel Les was
    in Warsaw to attend a meeting of Defense Ministers from countries, which are
    members of the Bucharest 9 Initiative. The meeting, staged jointly by linr
    ministries from Poland and Romania, was attended by Defense Ministers from
    Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania,
    Slovakia and Hungary as well as by NATO officials and representatives of the US
    Department of Defense. According to the Romanian Defense Ministry, the meeting
    in Warsaw tackled the contribution of B9 states to strengthening NATO deterrence
    and defense, with a focus on the coherent implementation and full
    operationalization of the Advanced Allied Presence on the Eastern Flank. On the
    sidelines of the meeting, Les met with his Polish counterpart, Mariusz
    Błaszczak, stressing the major
    role of the two countries as promoters of the B9 Initiative, in establishing a
    unified position of NATO’s Eastern Allies that should be promoted on NATO’s
    common agenda. In another development, Minister Les met with Romanian military
    from the Blue Scorpions Anti-Air Defense Unit deployed in Poland as part of
    NATO’s Combat Group.




    DRILL – Over April 5-13 the Romanian
    navy is staging the biggest international drill in Romania’s territorial waters
    and in the international waters of the Black Sea. 14 Romanian warships and six
    from Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey are taking part in
    the drill during which over 2000 servicemen will be training to respond to attacks
    coming from under the sea, air or surface. The drill’s scenario implies a
    coordinated crisis response carried out under a UN Security Council resolution.
    The aforementioned drill also involves the participation of the NATO Permanent
    Black Sea Force.




    DISTINCTION- The Royal House of Britain on
    Friday decorated Romanian Florin Morariu for the courage he displayed during
    the terrorist attack of June 2017, which killed 8 people and wounded 48.
    Morariu is the first Romanian to receive the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery. At
    the time of the attack Florin Morariu worked in a bakery close to the bridge in
    London and helped a few people to take shelter and stood up to the attackers.


    (Translated
    by V. Palcu)