Radio România Internațional

Tag: vote by mail

  • March 31, 2016 UPDATE

    March 31, 2016 UPDATE

    PRESIDENCY-Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis is attending the nuclear security summit in Washington. He said on Thursday that he will hold consultations with all political parties in Romania in the following weeks on the legislation in the field and said he gladly received the echo coming from the country as regards the change and modernisation of the security law. The president also said that Romania meets the highest standards when it comes to nuclear security. On Thursday, Klaus Iohannis visited the Holocaust Memorial in Washington. “I wanted to personally pay a pious homage to all the victims of the Holocaust and to express my gratitude for the activity of this internationally acclaimed institution”, the president also said. Klaus Iohannis will participate on Friday in the session opening the summit, will attend a working dinner and talks starting from a scenario designed by the organisers, which consists in the presentation of a hypothetical case of nuclear terrorism. The Romanian President will make a declaration for the press at the end of the summit. Also on Friday, he will meet with representatives of the Romanian community in Washington.



    VOTE BY MAIL — The Romanian Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Electoral Authority in Romania announce the start of the enlisting in the Electoral Register of the Romanian voters with the domicile or residence abroad. As of April 1, 2016, the Romanian nationals who want to vote in the future parliamentary elections can request to be enlisted in the Electoral Register. The enlisting period comes to a close some 3 months ahead of the elections, depending on the voting date, still to be set. In a press conference, the minister delegate for the Romanians abroad, Dan Stoenescu underlined that the enlisting of the voters in the Electoral Register is a huge and necessary step forward in exerting the right to vote in this year’s parliamentary elections, considering the amendments to the electoral law and the introduction of the vote by mail.



    CORRUPTION– The Bucharest Tribunal on Thursday ruled to authorize the preventive house arrest, for 30 days, pending trial, of Craiova mayor, Lia Olguta Vasilescu. She was detained on Wednesday on charges of bribe taking, influence peddling to obtain undue financial benefits and goods and money laundering. According to a measure taken by the prosecutors on Thursday, MP Sebastian Ghita is on bail subject to legal restrictions pending trial. The bail is set at 13 million Euros. A close friend of the former Social Democratic Prime Minister Victor Ponta, Sebastian Ghita is accused of bribe giving, blackmail and securing influence. This the highest bail set so far by a Romanian court.



    BORDER CONTROL — Romanian interior minister, Petre Toba, met on Thursday in Djerdap-Serbia with his Serbian counterpart, Nebojsa Stefanovic. The focal points of the talks between the two officials were migration-related issues and the need to identify additional security measures on the common border. According to a communiqué issued by the Romanian Interior Ministry “the two officials agreed that in the following period of time, the legal framework should be ensured to establish a common patrol made up of Romanian and Serbian border police officers. Romania has taken additional measures to tighten border security, because it has to manage some 2,070 km of the EU’s external border”, minister Toba said on the occasion.



    SECURITY– According to the Pentagon, the US will deploy an armoured brigade in Eastern Europe with continuous rotations starting in February 2017, as part of efforts to discourage possible Russian aggression. The brigade will number 4,200 troops, as well as tanks and other types of armoured vehicles. The troops will rotate in and out of the allied states on the eastern flank, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. US combat brigades of the ground forces are also stationed in Germany and Italy. About 62,000 US military forces are permanently based in Europe. To reassure its allies in Eastern Europe, NATO took a series of measures in the spring of 2014, such as opening logistical centres and deploying fighter aircraft in the Baltic states and additional ships in the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea. Moscow says the permanent deployment of troops along its borders violates the NATO-Russia Founding Act signed in 1997.



    PHONE CARDS-The Romanian Intelligence Service is investigating, together with national and international partners, the use of Romanian anonymous pre-paid phone cards in areas with terrorist organisations. The Service has recently said that persons affiliated to terrorist groups have used pre-paid phone cards in Romania to communicate abroad. The investigation also looks at the possible use of such cards in the attacks carried out in Europe.



    ENERGY— Romania may become an important player on the regional energy market by 2020 if the BRUA natural gas pipeline is developed, the Romanian economy minister Costin Borc told the Bucharest Forum held by Aspen Institute Romania. According to the minister, the pipeline, which links Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria, provides new opportunities for the Romanian energy sector on the European market. He also said Romania must continue work on the Arad-Szeged pipeline between Romania and Hungary and on the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline linking Romania to the Republic of Moldova, which will allow Romania to consolidate its position as an exporter on the natural gas market. The minister also emphasised the need to develop the country’s transport and IT infrastrucure.



    YOUTH COUNCIL — Romania’s President, Klaus Iohannis, on Thursday sent a congratulation message to the Youth Council of Romania, on its 10th anniversary. “On this occasion, I congratulate the Council on its involvement in projects which monitor governance and the decision making process, as well as the legislative process, from legislative proposals to the enforcement of laws. It is regrettable that a large number of young people do not find solutions to build themselves a future in Romania and choose to leave the country. It is the state’s duty to create all the premises for the young people who complete their studies and for those unemployed, alike, to stand chances to get integrated into society and on the labour market. To that end, I support the implementation of the program Youth Guarantee Scheme, as a huge step forward in order not to waste the talent and work force that the young generations have, as we well know”, Romania’s President also writes in his message.



    THE HAGUE— The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia Hague has acquitted the former leader of the Serbian Radical Party Vojislav Seselj, who was on trial for inciting and committing war crimes in Croatia and Bosnia Hertzegovina during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. Held for 12 years at the Scheveningen prison from February 2003 to November 2014, Seselj was temporarily released on humanitarian grounds. He did not attend the reading of the verdict. A week ago, the court in The Hague sentenced the former political leader of the Bosnian Serbs Radovan Karadzic to 40 years in prison for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.



    TENNIS— The Romanian-Russian pair Monica Niculescu and Margarita Gasparian on Friday face the Hungarian-Kazakh pair Timea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the semifinals of the Miami tennis tournament worth 6 million dollars in prize money. While this is Niculescu and Gasparian’s third tournament as a pair, they pulled of a surprising win over the Swiss-Indian pair Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza. In the singles event in Miami, world no. 5 Simona Halep of Romania lost to the Swiss player Timea Bacsinszky, world no. 20, in the quarterfinals.


    (Translated by Cristina Mateescu and Diana Vijeu)

  • 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.

  • The Week in Review: October 25-31

    The Week in Review: October 25-31

    The “vote by mail law has been adopted


    Romanian citizens domiciled abroad will be able to vote by mail, but only in the parliamentary elections due next year. The Chamber of Deputies with the Romanian Parliament on Wednesday passed a law on this issue. The measure was extremely necessary, after thousands of Romanians in the Diaspora queued up at polling stations for hours to vote in last years presidential election, with some of them finding it impossible to cast their votes, because of the improper organization of the ballot. The ruling Social-Democrats say the law voted on Wednesday is a pilot project, which might be extended to the presidential and European elections, if everything goes well at the parliamentary elections next autumn.



    The president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea explains: “As there are slightly different procedures and a more comprehensive analysis of the two rounds of the ballot is needed, in terms of logistics and infrastructure, decision makers didnt want to have another reason to postpone the adoption of this law again. All those who doubted that the same provisions will apply to the presidential elections, will be proven wrong or to intentionally try to cast a shadow over what we have all achieved here.



    The National Liberal Party, in opposition, voted for the law, in the hope that it will be extended, after the 2016 parliamentary elections.



    Liberal MP Mihai Voicu: “We have taken a step forward by adopting the vote by mail system for parliamentary elections, but we have to do more. This is all that could be achieved given the current parliamentary majority. Hopefully, another parliamentary majority, formed after the 2016 elections, will extend this law.




    The fight against corruption continues


    Gheorghe Nichita, the suspended mayor of Iasi, the largest city in eastern Romania, and Tiberiu Urdareanu, the CEO of a significant group of firms, UTI, were taken into custody on Thursday evening, for taking and giving bribe, respectively. According to the National Anticorruption Directorate, Gheorghe Nichita allegedly claimed and received undue benefits in exchange for granting a EU funded contract worth some 12 million euros to the UTI group. The contract was meant to ease road and pedestrian traffic and reduce the level of pollution in Iasi.



    In another move, MP and former development minister Elena Udrea, who has just been released from arrest and is now subject to legal restrictions pending trial, is again investigated by anticorruption prosecutors as part of a different case. Udrea is accused that, during her tenure as a minister, she received a 4 million US dollar bribe from a businessman to help him earn a contract. Elena Udreas colleagues in Parliament this week approved the start of a criminal investigation against her and her being taken into custody, but they rejected a request for her pre-trial arrest.




    New economic measures


    The government approved on Tuesday several amendments to the Fiscal Code, among which the reduction of the VAT for water to 9%; changing the tax bracket for micro-enterprises; exempting higher secondary education institutions from paying profit tax; and reducing tax on dividends from 16% to 5%. The Romanian business environment has welcomed the introduction of this last measure, which will take effect as of January 1st 2016 and will apply to dividends obtained by Romanian natural persons and legal bodies, as well as to the dividends obtained in Romania by non-residents.



    Also this week, the government approved a new package of laws on public procurement that incorporates the latest European norms in the field and is designed to improve infrastructure. The package will be sent to Parliament to be debated and voted on as part of an emergency procedure. The economic policy analyst with the European Commission Representation in Bucharest, Carmen Marcus, has quoted Romanian and foreign experts as saying that Romania has never had a better macro-economic situation, following financial assistance programs with its international creditors. Also, Romania ranks 37th out of 189 countries in a World Bank business classification, going up 11 positions and overtaking such countries as Italy, Hungary, Russia, Croatia and Greece.




    The Republic of Moldova has no government


    Romanias president, Klaus Iohannis, took note of the collapse of pro-western three-party government of the Republic of Moldova on Thursday and underlined that a stable government should be formed for Moldova to be able to stay on its European course.



    According to president Iohannis, Romania reiterates its commitment to provide full support to neighbouring Moldova in this respect. Romanian foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu shares this view: It is extremely important for the whole responsible political class in Chishinau, particularly the pro-European parties that have been voted for this very purpose by the citizens of the Republic of Moldova in November 2014, a vote which was reconfirmed by the pro-European choice in the local elections held in June, to understand that Moldova needs stability, a pro-European coalition and European reforms.



    The Moldovan cabinet led by Liberal-Democrat Valeriu Strelet has been dissolved by Parliament following a censure motion initiated by the Socialist and pro-Russian communist opposition. Voting for the motion, which involved a vote of confidence in Parliament, were also the members of the Democratic Party, who are part of the ruling coalition, who, just like the initiators of the motion, accuse Valeriu Strelet of incompetence and corruption. The latter said that, by initiating the motion, the left tries to destabilise the republic and deviate it from its target, namely European integration.

  • August 24, 2015

    August 24, 2015

    LEGISLATION — The draft law on the “vote by mail” is today being discussed by the Electoral Code Committee and representatives of the parliamentary groups. The document which is being discussed by Parliament stipulates that Romanian citizens who are domiciled abroad or who have their residence abroad have the right to vote by mail in the legislative, presidential and EP elections, as well as in the national referendums. The draft law was tacitly adopted by the Senate in April, and it is currently discussed by the Joint Commission of the two chambers with competence in drafting electoral legislation.




    MIGRANT CRISIS — The migrant crisis in Europe is high on the agenda of the talks in Berlin by French president, Francois Hollande, and German chancellor, Angela Merkel. The meeting is aimed at giving a new impetus to a Euro-wide response to the refugee issue, by harmonising the migration and asylum policies. In an interview on the public broadcaster ARD, German vice-chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has said the record high wave of refugees who seek asylum in Germany is the biggest challenge his country has been facing since reunification, 25 years ago. In another move, he has criticised the passiveness of other European countries, arguing that migration and asylum policies in the EU should be strengthened and unified, and the refugees should be equitably distributed to the member states. The German government estimates the number of asylum seekers will amount to the record high of 800,000 by the end of the year. In the field, on Sunday, thousands of migrants, mostly Syrian refugees crossed Macedonia and entered Serbia, resuming their travel to Western Europe, after the Macedonian authorities, who announced their had closed borders, seemed to have abandoned the efforts to stop them by force. According to the European Border Surveillance Agency, the number of migrants to the EU amounted to 340,000 in the first seven months of the year, 100,000 of which were registered last month alone. Most of them flee conflicts in Syria and other Middle East countries.



    MOLDOVA — The EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, has assured Moldova’s new Prime Minister, Valeriu Strelet, of Brussels’ full support for Moldova, in its effort to implement reforms aimed at modernising the republic and to further enforce its European agenda. During a phone conversation, the two officials assessed the progress made by the Republic of Moldova, a former Soviet state with a predominantly Romanian speaking population in implementing its European integration agenda, as well as the stage of reforms which are necessary for the application of the stipulations laid out in the EU Association Agreement. Macro-financial stability, the reform of the judiciary, the fight against corruption, welfare and assuring the country’s energy security are some of the priories of the Moldovan government, said Prime Minister Valeriu Strelet, who is due to have talks with Federica Mogherini in Brussels, in September.




    LIFE SATISFACTION POLL — 57% of the Romanians are satisfied with their living conditions, whereas 43% of them are dissatisfied with their life balance, a recently conducted opinion poll shows. 37% of the respondents expect to live at the same standards as in 2014, 33% to live better and 28% worse than last year. The poll is also analysing the political preferences of the respondents. The results show president Klaus Iohannis continues to be at the top of the preferences in terms of the confidence he inspires, and the National Liberal Party, in opposition, would be the favourite party in a virtual legislative election. We’ll revert to this issue, later in RN.




    MUSICAL FEAST — On Sunday evening, the Romanian Youth Orchestra will open the 22nd edition of the “George Enescu” International Festival. Some 2,500 foreign musicians and 500 Romanians will attend this year’s edition of the festival. Participating will be outstanding orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the internationally acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Orchestra of the Munich State Opera, Staatskapelle Dresden, London Symphony Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Orchestra, the Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Orchestra in Amsterdam. According to the organiser of the festival, this year’s edition of the biggest international cultural event organised by Romania and the best promoter of the work of the great Romanian composer, George Enescu, will unfold between August 30 and September 20 and will host 58 concerts in halls, as well as many other musical events in the open air.




    TENNIS — Romanian Simona Halep has re-become WTA’s second ranking tennis player, following her qualification to the finals of the Cincinnati Tournament. She was however outclassed in the final by the main favourite of the tournament, WTA’s 1st ranked Serena Williams, 6-3, 7-6 (5). Halep and Williams had met six times until Sunday, the overall score of the games being 5-1 for the American player. In another move, Simona Halep withdrew from the New Haven tournament in Connecticut, with 689,063 dollars prize money up for grabs. Halep, first seeded in the New Haven Tournament, which started on Sunday, withdrew from the competition after accusing pain the her left leg.

  • Debates on a new election code

    Debates on a new election code

    A special parliamentary committee has started consultations with representatives of all parliamentary parties on the amendment of the election laws. So far, the committee has analysed the basic principles underlying the election of the president, of senators and deputies, and of the local authorities. The ruling Social Democratic Party says it will propose, among others, the reduction in the number of MPs to around 300 for the Chamber of Deputies and 100 for the Senate.



    The National Liberal Party in opposition will propose a mixed system for the election of MPs. The minister delegate for the relationship with Parliament, Eugen Nicolicea, said in an interview that he would propose the committee to carry out a census of the Romanian voters abroad, to improve the distribution of polling stations. “As soon as the law comes into force”, said Nicolicea, “the Romanian citizens living abroad will have six months to report their presence to the Romanian embassies in the respective countries. This will ensure that a sufficient number of polling stations will be created.”



    The amendment of Romania’s three election laws is a priority for the new Parliament session which begins in February, said the president of the committee in charge with drafting the new election code, Valeriu Zgonea. The committee has already requested Parliament’s permanent bureaus to present it with all proposals referring to the election legislation and submit amendments to the existing bills by March 15th. Mr Zgonea says Romania needs an efficient and secure voting system.



    Valeriu Zgonea: “All political parties agree that the new system should work without any logistical problems and provide all Romanian voters, wherever they are, with the opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to vote. We all agree that we must reduce the number of deputies and senators. We will look for the best solutions to achieve this before the legislative elections of 2016”.



    The need for a fundamental change of the voting process abroad became clear during the recent presidential elections in November, when many citizens were unable to cast their votes due to deficiencies in the system and the bad management of the election process.