November 1, 2019 UPDATE

A roundup of domestic and international news

Newsroom, 01.11.2019, 19:53

Vote. On Monday, the Romanian Parliament will hold a vote on the
Liberal government proposed by the prime minister designate Ludovic Orban. 233
yes votes are needed for the new government to take office. To secure this
outcome, Orban has concluded political agreements and deals with the Save
Romania Union, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the
People’s Movement Party, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats and the group
of ethnic minorities. The Social Democratic Party and the Pro Romania party
both said their members would be absent from the vote. Orban’s cabinet would
replace Viorica Dancila’s Social Democratic government which was brought down
following a no-confidence vote. Ludovic Orban has proposed a government with
fewer ministries whose priorities include picking Romania’s candidate for the
position of EU commissioner, the final budget adjustment this year and the
budget for next year.

Impeachment. The US House of Representatives has passed legislation to
formally proceed with the impeachment inquiry against president Donald Trump.
It’s the third time in America’s modern history when such a vote is held.
President Trump is essentially accused of using his office to obtain personal
political gains through a foreign state, in this case Ukraine. He is accused of
making military aid for Ukraine conditional on the Ukrainian government’s
starting an investigation into Trump’s Democratic rival Joe Biden. The White
House said in a statement that Trump did nothing illegal and described the
investigation as unfair, unconstitutional and fundamentally
un-American.

Radio Day. Radio Day is celebrated every year in Romania on 1st of
November. This date marks the inauguration of the public radio in 1928. To
celebrate this anniversary, the National Radio Orchestra gave a special concert
at the Radio Concert Hall on Friday. Also, the foyer of the concert
hall is hosting a photography exhibition entitled Afghanistan: Faces of
War by Ilie Pintea, a correspondent of Radio Romania’s news channel.

Election. The
Romanian Foreign Ministry has announced that it has finalized the sending to
the Romanian consulates and diplomatic missions abroad of all the materials
necessary for voting in the presidential elections. For the 835 polling
stations that will be set up outside Romania’s borders, the ministry sent 4,483,907
ballots and 7,739 stamps for the first round. As a first, voting abroad will be
held over three days, on the 8th, 9th and 10th
of November, and then on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th respectively,
in order to avoid queuing. Also, the Romanians who have registered online will
be able to resort to postal voting. The president of the Permanent Electoral Authority
has announced that the total amount earmarked for this year’s presidential elections
is 150 million Euro, the biggest so far.

Protest. Miners from two mines in the Jiu Valley, in the
centre-west, have continued a protest started on Monday, when around 100 people
barricaded themselves underground. They are about to lose their jobs at the
beginning of next year when the mine closes. They say that if their demands are
not taken into consideration, they will go on hunger strike and have requested
the presence of the outgoing prime minister Viorica Dancila. Miners want
legislation that guarantees social protection after lay-off. The process to
close the two mines began at the end of 2017.

Tourism. Arrivals in tourist accommodation facilities in Romania in
the first nine months of this year amounted to almost ten a half million, up
4.4% compared with the same period last year, according to data published on
Friday by the National Institute for Statistics. The same report shows that
Romanian tourists accounted for 78% of arrivals. Among foreign tourists, around
74% came from Europe, the majority from the European Union.

Tennis. World no. 5 Simona Halep of Romania has been defeated by
world no. 2 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic in the Purple Group of the
WTA Finals under way in Shenzhen, China, and has thus failed to qualify for the
semifinals. Pliskova will play in the
semifinals against world no. 1, Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, who won the Red
Group. In the other semifinal, the title holder, world no. 8 Elina Svitolina of
Ukraine, who won the Purple Group, will play against world no. 7 Belinda Bencic
of Switzerland. Simona Halep played the final of the WTA Finals in 2014, when
she lost to Serena Williams.