The Week In Review (October 17-22)

A look at the main events in Romania this week

Newsroom, 22.10.2016, 13:57

The Social-Democrats have filed a simple motion against Justice Minister Raluca Pruna

Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos acknowledged the simple motion passed in Parliament this week against Justice Minister Raluca Pruna, saying however that the Minister should keep her seat in the Government. The Government spokesperson Liviu Iolu explained that MPs presented no objections regarding Minister Prunas term in office, but only related to some of her statements. In a simple motion entitled “Lies can kill, too filed in the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Democrats called for the resignation of Minister Raluca Pruna, after the latter said, in a recent meeting of the Superior Council of Magistracy, that she lied to the European Court of Human Rights regarding the funding allotted to Romanian penitentiaries. Before the vote, Raluca Pruna told Parliament:

Raluca Pruna: “We should have a political and social consensus on strategic topics, which encompass several governance cycles. The time has come to look around and admit there are more and more citizens who know what kind of country they want and who can voice their criticism as regards the activity of lawmakers. An independent judiciary cannot be an underfunded judiciary with a precarious infrastructure, overloaded by notifications and pending cases, such as the Romanian judiciary.

The conversion of Swiss franc loans into the local currency sparks controversy

Many Romanians who took out loans in Swiss francs saw their rates double in January 2015 as a result of exchange rate fluctuations. On Tuesday, the Chamber of Deputies, Parliaments decision-making body, unanimously passed a bill on the conversion of Swiss franc loans into the local currency at the exchange rate valid at the time of the loan. The bill was initially intended to help people with low incomes that can no longer cope with their bank rates. In the meantime, however, the provision on the 50% debt ratio and the ceiling of 250,000 Swiss francs has been eliminated, so the bill now also applies to people who took out very big loans and who have no difficulty paying their bank rates. Political parties say the new bill corrects an injustice and that banks should rethink their approach in their relationship with clients. On the other hand, the National Bank of Romania says the bill is discriminatory because it only applies to people who took out loans in Swiss francs. The bill could thus set a dangerous precedent and that the many people who took out loans in euros may also demand the same rights, which would create major problems for the Romanian banking system. The National Bank governor Mugur Isarescu says theres also a risk that contractual discipline may become irrelevant as a result of such laws. In order to come into force, the bill on the conversion of Swiss franc loans also needs to be signed by president Klaus Iohannis.

The vote count in the parliamentary elections may be subject to electronic monitoring

Intense preparations are being made in Romania for the upcoming parliamentary elections of December 11th. On Monday, the interior ministry published a draft government decision on its website on the video and audio recording of the final part of the voting process. The recordings will be delivered to the Special Telecommunications Service and kept there for three months before being destroyed. It will be the first time that the vote count will be recorded, so as to eliminate all suspicions of fraud. Interior minister Dragos Tudorache has told prefects and local government representatives that the objective is to organise the least contested elections.