April 17, 2019

Parliament passes referendum measure proposed by Romanian President Iohannis; Senate debates criminal law amendments

Corina Cristea, 17.04.2019, 15:17

REFERENDUM – The two chambers of the Parliament in Bucharest, convened in joint session, have green lighted President Klaus Iohannis’s request to hold a referendum on May 26, at the same time with the elections for the European Parliament. The themes proposed by the head of state refer to banning amnesty and pardoning for corruption deeds and also banning the Government’s passing emergency decrees in the field of crimes and judicial organization. The head of state also wants to ask voters if other authorities, except for the Ombudsman, should have the right to notify the Constitutional Court as regards the decrees. The President’s move comes after numerous legislative changes in the judicial system promoted by the ruling coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE), controversial changes contest both at home and abroad, by Romania’s European partners.

LEGAL – The law on modifying the Criminal Code is today debated and voted by the Senate in Bucharest. Next week the law will be submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case. Yesterday, the modifications were approved by Parliament’s special Committee on the justice laws, after line minister Tudorel Toader refused to implement the modifications by passing an emergency decree. The President of the Committee, Social-Democrat Florin Iordache said the ruling coalition Government failed to implement the articles deemed constitutional by the Constitutional Court, which thus created the emergency for passing this piece of legislation. Attending the debate in the Committee, Minister Toader said it is Parliament’s duty to bring the criminal codes in line with the Court’s rulings, as it is natural for any bill. The opposition claims the modifications are meant to prevent certain politicians from facing criminal prosecution.

NOTRE DAME — Todays meeting of the French government, presided over by President Emmanuel Macron, is dedicated to the fire that partially destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the most visited monument of Europe. In a televised address, Macron promised that the reconstruction of the monument would not last more than five years. The French leader had words of praise for the firefighters that mitigated the disaster. The Monday night fire shocked the world, and brought in a tidal wave of donations for repairing the building. Notre Dame is a UNESCO heritage site, attracting millions of tourists. So far, 800 million Euros have been pledged. This evening, churches all over France will toll their bells at the time the fire started. High officials in Bucharest and prelates of the Romanian Orthodox Church have sent messages of solidarity with the French people.

NATO — Romanian President Klaus Iohannis today in Bucharest spoke at the opening of the international conference entitled Strengthening NATOs Eastern Flank: Challenges and Strategies for Coherent Measures in the Baltic and Black Sea Region. The head of state firmly supported a common stance, consolidated and coherent along the entire eastern flank of the alliance. Iohannis said that such a stance was needed to provide a much needed deterrence and defense posture, as the Black Sea area is still marred by frozen conflicts and latent tension. In addition, a climate of confrontation is noticeable, with more and more militarization of the area, with more intense hybrid actions against both Romania and NATO partners, the head of state further said.

JUSTICE — Romanian senators are today debating and voting on the simple motion filed by the two main parties in the opposition, the Liberal Party and the Save Romania Party, against Justice Minister Tudorel Toader. The debate has been postponed twice last week and once this week already. The signatories call on Minister Toader to give up his attempts at introducing what they call nefarious changes to criminal legislation, and to harmonize his proposals with the Constitutional Court. They also called on him to withdraw legislation that contravenes with the rule of law. The opposition also called on the minister to support the legislative initiative of dismantling the body that now investigates corruption investigators.