THE WEEK IN REVIEW

13-17 January, 2025

Roxana Vasile, 18.01.2025, 14:00

Presidential elections redux

The first round of the presidential elections will take place on May 4, and the second round on May 18 – the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition government in Bucharest established on Thursday. Romanians in the country will vote during a single day, and those in the diaspora will have three days, but on the last day, Sunday, the polling stations will close at 9:00 PM Romanian time, regardless of the local time zone. The decision was made to avoid leaving a time gap to influence the vote when it would have closed in Romania, but would have remained open abroad, in the polling stations to the west of the country. The authorities have also imposed stricter rules for the electoral campaign, especially on the internet, non-compliance with which can be fined up to 50,000 lei (about 10 thousand euros), and, in the case of large online platforms, up to 5% of turnover.

The government decision setting the date of the presidential elections was published in the Official Gazette. Representatives of several non-governmental organizations stated that it is unacceptable to adopt such a normative act without a real public debate and without an analysis of the aspects that affected the previously canceled election. We recall that, after validating the first round of the presidential elections on November 24, the Constitutional Court of Romania canceled the presidential elections in their entirety on December 6, while voting for the second round had already begun in the diaspora.

The CCR made the decision after the Supreme Council for National Defense published a report that spoke of external interference in the electoral process, unconfirmed, however, for now, by judicial investigations. Tens of thousands of people from all over the country took to the streets on Sunday, most of them in Bucharest, to demand the resumption of the second round, which they consider to have been unjustly canceled. Many also called for the resignation of Klaus Iohannis, who is still president, although on December 21 he had completed his second and last term to which he was entitled. 161 opposition MPs signed for the suspension of the president, and the AUR party officially requested the convening of an extraordinary session of Parliament between January 20 and 24, in order to begin the suspension procedure. For this purpose, the vote of 234 MPs is needed.

NBR decisions

The National Bank of Romania maintains its cautious attitude and decided this week to keep the monetary policy interest rate unchanged, at 6.5% per year. The reference interest rate has not been changed since August, amid efforts to reduce inflation. According to the NBR, it increased more than expected in the last quarter of 2024, due to fuel prices and the summer drought. Experts are cautious about a possible decrease in the monetary policy interest rate this year. They believe that if the domestic economic context does not improve after the presidential elections, there may also be great pressure on the exchange rate of the national currency. On the other hand, the Romanian Government is working on the draft budget for 2025. The deficit target of 7% established with the European Commission will be maintained, as well as a target of 7% of GDP for investments.

Again, about the Mineriadă

Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu and former Prime Minister Petre Roman were indicted again this week in the Mineriadă case (the miner raids) of June 1990 for crimes against humanity. Prosecutors must start the investigation from scratch after the evidence they had previously collected was annulled in court. They claim that in June 1990, decision-makers in the Romanian state launched a policy of repression against the civilian population in the capital, resulting in the killing of 4 people, the rape of 2, physical and/or mental harm to over 1,300 people, and the unlawful imprisonment of over 1,200. Starting in April 1990, a protest took place in Bucharest for several weeks, in opposition to the power that had just been established after the anti-communist Revolution.

According to prosecutors, on June 13, 14 and 15, repressive action was taken against the demonstrators, in which forces of the Ministry of Interior, Defense Ministry, the Romanian Intelligence Service, as well as over ten thousand miners, and other workers from several areas of the country were illegally involved. The miners brought to Bucharest devastated the headquarters of the newly founded or re-established political parties after the Revolution and which were in opposition, as well as the homes of the main political leaders in the opposition, the headquarters of independent press publications and of some educational institutions.

National Culture Day

Since 2011, Romania celebrates National Culture Day every year on January 15, the birthday of national poet Mihai Eminescu. This year, it was the celebration of 175 years since the birth of the person who is considered the greatest Romanian poet. Dedicated to Romanian culture, art, and academic effort, National Culture Day was celebrated, through numerous events, in all communities inhabited by Romanians inside and outside the country’s borders. However, there were also protests by members of the Federation of Culture and Press Unions, CulturMedia, who wanted to draw attention to the underfunding of the sector and the wage inequities that affect employees in museums, libraries, and cultural centers.