October 28, 2015
For a roundup of domestic and international events, click here.
Newsroom, 28.10.2015, 12:00
POSTAL VOTING – The Chamber of Deputies of Romanias Parliament, a decision-making body, is today voting on the postal voting law after the parliamentary commission on Tuesday made several amendments to the draft law. The most important amendment provides for postal voting exclusively destined to the Romanian diaspora to be used only in the parliamentary elections scheduled next year and not in the presidential and euro-parliamentary elections too, as stipulated by the draft law passed by the Senate with a large majority last week. The large-scale discussions on postal voting or on electronic voting as an alternative, both at political and public level, were triggered by the flawed organization of the presidential election in the Romanian diaspora last November.
SUMMIT – As from today, Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta is paying a two-day visit to Mexico, where he will meet president Enrique Pena Nieto, who is also head of the Mexican government, and will attend the Open Government Partnership Global Summit in Mexico City. The talks will focus on political and economic cooperation, cooperation in the field of culture and education and the prospects of updating the accord between the EU and Mexico. Prime Minister Ponta will also have meetings with Mexican high-ranking officials and businessmen, the government in Bucharest has announced. His visit takes place in the context of the 80th anniversary of Romanian-Mexican diplomatic relations and is the first visit by a Romanian prime minister to Mexico in the last 25 years. The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral initiative launched by the USA and seven other states on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in 2011.
VISIT – Romanian Foreign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu is paying a visit to Spain as from today, for talks with his counterpart, Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo y Marfil and Justice Minister, Rafael Catala Polo. According to the press release of the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the talks will focus on the consolidation of the Romanian-Spanish Strategic Partnership and the situation of the large Romanian community in Spain. In Madrid, Minister Aurescu and his Spanish counterpart will attend an event devoted to preventing and fighting violent extremism. On that occasion, the two ministers will spell out the Romanian-Spanish project regarding the establishment of the International Court against Terrorism, the RomanianForeign Ministrys press release also says.
STATISTIC – In 2015, Romania ranks 37th of 189 countries in the World Banks “Doing Buisness 2016 chart. According to the World Banks report, it takes 8 days and five procedures to start a business in Romania. In that chart, Romania is ahead of such countries as Bulgaria, Hungary, Belgium, Italy or Turkey, but it is followed by the Czech Republic, Japan, Slovenia and Slovakia. Singapore, New Zealand and Denmark come first as countries where it is easy to do business. The World Banks report has analysed 189 economies on the basis of 11 criteria such as the start of a business, obtaining a loan, access to the electricity network and cross border transactions. However, the report has not taken into account security, macroeconomic stability or corruption.
NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION – The Parliament of the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova with a predominantly Romanian-speaking population on Thursday is debating and voting on a motion of no-confidence filed by the pro-Russian socialist and communist opposition against the pro-European three-party government. The initiators of the motion accuse prime minister Valeriu Strelet of incompetence and corruption, while the prime minister says that through the motion, the left wing is trying to destabilize the republic and turn it away from the European integration target. 51 votes are needed for the government to fall, that is half plus one of the MPs; the two parties in opposition only have 44 seats. However, pundits do not rule out flaws in the vote cast by the Liberal-Democratic Party led by Valeriu Strelet, the Democratic Party and the Liberal Party forming the ruling coalition. Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has warned that Bucharest will further support the Republic of Moldova provided a pro-Western coalition stays in power. This month, Romania has given the neighbouring Republic of Moldova a loan of 150 million Euros.
TENNIS – Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 2 seed, on Thursday is taking on Polish Agnieszka Radwanska in her last match in the so-called Red Group of the WTA Finals in Singapore. It is a decisive match for qualification for the semifinals of the competition with prize money of seven million dollars, rallying the worlds top 8 players. In the previous matches, Halep defeated Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-0, 6-3 and lost to Russian Maria Sharapova 4-6, 4-6. According to the WTA rankings made public on Monday, Halep is over 4,000 points away from world leader Serena Williams and 1200 points ahead of Spanish Garbine Muguruza.
