Demonstration and Contestation

Turned into a genuine war of nerves, the crisis in Bucharest is extending and aggravating, and its effects on the national currency and the economy are already visible.

Bogdan Matei, 03.02.2017, 12:56

Every night, hundreds of people take to the streets of Bucharest and other big cities across the country and abroad to protest, peacefully but firmly, against the Government who has decided to turn a deaf ear to their protests and go on with the emergency ordinance amending the criminal codes and the bill on collective pardon.

On Thursday, President Klaus Iohannis challenged the emergency ordinance amending the Criminal Codes at the Constitutional Court, evoking the conflict this ordinance creates between the Government, on the one side, and Parliament and the judiciary, on the other. The President says that the Government, which he has unhesitatingly termed as “reckless, made an illegal move by issuing the ordinance, as the matter was by no means an urgent one. He has again called on the Social Democrat Prime-Minister to abrogate the ordinance and has invited politicians to consultations.

Klaus Iohannis: “I have to ask people to come to Cotroceni and find a solution to this crisis, because things are getting worse by the day and, even if people are protesting in the street, voicing their legitimate discontent, we cannot find solutions there. Solutions must come from politicians so, next week I will definitely invite them to present their solutions to this issue.

Also on Thursday, Grindeanu and his Cabinet met with the central and local Social Democrat leaders to get their vote of confidence and carry on with the governing program. The leader of the party and the real iron fist of the left wing, Liviu Dragnea, has recalled, again, that the Social Democrats won the December 11 elections thanks to the legitimate votes cast by Romanian citizens.

Liviu Dragnea: “We are determined to exercise our executive, governmental power, as well as the legislative power granted to us by citizens, and to do that legitimately and by observing the Constitution. We believe that any attempt to undermine the Governments activity is an attempt to destabilize the rule of law in Romania, through means that are arguably legal.

Far from being monolithic, though, both the Government and the Social Democratic Party have started to show cracks in the foundation. Just one month after being sworn in, the Minister for Business Environment Florin Jianu has resigned, saying that, in order to be able to look his child in the eyes, he can no longer be party to the implementation of such ordinances, which would render innocent dozens of officials charged with and sentenced for corruption.

The former MP Aurelia Cristea, the State Secretary Ciprian Necula and the local advisor in Resita, south-western Romania, Valentin Lupsa have, too, left the party. Also, the Vice-President of the Social Democratic Party and mayor of Iasi, the largest city in north-eastern Romania, Mihai Chirica, has called for the withdrawal of the ordinance and the resignation of its author, Justice Minister Florin Iordache. (Translated by M. Ignatescu, edited by D. Vijeu)