November 6, 2017

King Mihai I of Romania in serious condition; Tens of thousands protest planned legislative changes in Romania

Ştefan Stoica, 06.11.2017, 13:58

KING — On Monday, the Royal House of Romania announced that King Mihai I, the last monarch of the country, was in deteriorating condition. The 96 year-old former king is at his residence in Switzerland, battling cancer. He took the throne in 1940, and was ousted by the communists, taking refuge in Western Europe. The king could only return to the country after 1989, after the fall of communism, regaining his citizenship and a part of his properties. He was instrumental in promoting Romanias bid to join NATO, which occurred in 2004, and the European Union, which occurred in 2007.

PROTEST — Tens of thousands took to the streets on Sunday in Bucharest and most major cities against plans by the ruling coalition to operate major changes in the judicial and fiscal codes of law. The bill package supposed to reform justice was introduced in Parliament by Justice Minister Tudorel Toader, and is already under debate. Among other things, it would place the Judiciary Inspectorate under the authority of the ministry, instead of that of the Higher Defense Council, as well as exclude the head of state from proceedings to appoint heads of prosecutor offices. At the same time, the government postponed the extraordinary session to pass a number of fiscal measures. These include transferring payments for social insurance from employers to employees, transferring to employers taxes going towards medical leave and unemployment, as well as reducing income tax from 16 percent to 10 percent. Also today, the Senate debates the simple motion filed by the opposition against Finance Minister Ionut Misa. The opposition, trade unions and employers associations claim that the measures proposed by the minister would have serious consequences in the private sector.

ELECTIONS — In Romania, voters in the city of Deva, in the west of the country, and in 15 villages in 13 counties on Sunday voted for new mayors, in a partial local election. According to exit polls, in Deva the election was won by the Liberal candidate, Florin Oancea. The position was vacated when Mircia Muntean, re-elected last year, was sentenced to six years in prison for abusing his position and driving under the influence.

ATTACK — In the US, 26 people have been fatally shot and 20 injured in an attack at a church in a small town in Texas. This is the bloodiest attack in the history of the state. There is no evidence so far that the shooter had any ties to any terror organization. He was found dead in his vehicle shortly after the attack. The Texas massacre comes only a few days after the worst mass murder in the United States, in Las Vegas, where 58 people were killed and hundreds wounded by a lone shooter during a concert.

CATALAN — Catalan separatist leader Carles Puidgemont was released on parole by the Belgian police, along with four members of his government, after being detained under a European warrant. He had turned himself in to the Belgian authorities, being cited for rebellion, after holding a referendum to separate Catalonia from Spain. Eight other members of his regional government are being detained in Madrid. Separatist Catalonians announced new protests this wee. Pro-independence parties are in a dispute regarding a single candidate list in the elections scheduled by the government in Madrid for December 21.

TRUMP — US President Donald Trump said on Monday in Tokyo that the North Korean nuclear program was a threat to the civilized world, while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that his country would down any North Korean missiles if necessary. Trump siad that continuing North Korean nuclear tests, which he deemed illegal, and missile launches were intolerable, and were a serious threat to peace and regional and global security. Trump arrived in Japan on Sunday, on the first leg of his Asia tour, dominated by the North Korean issue. After visiting Tokyo and Seoul, the president of the US goes to China. He then goes to the APEC summit in Vietnam, and the ASEAN summit in the Philippines.