Parliament and the public opinion
The mining project in Rosia Montana and the situation of stray dogs are the focus of the authorities' attention these days.
Corina Cristea, 09.09.2013, 13:07
Two issues with a powerful impact on public opinion in Romania have come to the authorities’ attention: the gold mining project in Rosia Montana and the situation of homeless dogs. Referring to Rosia Montana, environmentalists say the use of cyanide to extract gold poses a major threat to the environment, leading to irreversible pollution, while historians say a mining project in the area will destroy historical remains that are unique in the world.
Thousands of people opposed to the project have protested every day for more than a week in Bucharest and other cities in Romania, as well as abroad. The project was contested by Prime Minister Victor Ponta himself, who said that in spite of the fact that it was his government who gave the project a green light, in his quality as Parliament member he would vote against it.
On Monday Prime Minister Ponta said that the solution to the Rosia Montana bill is for it to be immediately rejected by both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. There was, however, a good side to the Rosia Montana project, namely the creation of jobs and further investment. The problem is now that the Romanian state will surely be sued by the company that was to carry out mining works in Rosia Montana, Victor Ponta has pointed out. In his turn, Senate Chairman and National Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu, also agrees the project should not be supported. In his opinion, going on with it means risking to divide the Romanian society and feed suspicions about some high level officials having been convinced to support the project through an incorrect lobby. The leader of the Social Democratic Party, Vasile Blaga, has been opposing the project all along.
In Rosia Montana, however, the mayors of 40 villages in the area have mobilised the local population, asking senators and deputies to vote for the resumption of mining in an area faced with serious unemployment.
The law of homeless dogs is another topic on Parliament’s agenda this week and one that has been dividing Romanian society into those in favour and those who oppose euthanasia as a solution to deal with stray dogs. The violent death of a 4-year-old child who was killed by a pack of homeless dogs near a park in Bucharest has mobilised the authorities, who called on Parliament to take a decision. Moreover, a referendum on the issue will be held on the 6th of October in Bucharest, a city currently home to around 65,000 stray dogs.
