Political attitudes in an election year
By the end of the week, the Romanian Government will submit to Parliament a plan of measures on postal voting.
România Internațional, 09.02.2016, 13:34
The 2014 presidential election brought to the fore the Romanians in the Diaspora, who went to the polls in large numbers, imposing a change of attitude in the politicians relationship with average citizens. In the run up to the local and parliamentary elections due this year, it was normal for further concerns to exist for improving the election system by enforcing postal voting and other measures in order to make peoples participation in the ballot more accessible, transparent and safer.
Attending Mondays parliamentary debate on that topic, technocrat Prime Minister, Dacian Ciolos, announced that by the end of the week, the Government would submit to Parliament a plan of measures on postal voting. He said that that the Foreign Ministry had already submitted to public consultation relevant documents regarding the Romanians residing abroad so that citizens might provide additional information. Concurrently, the Foreign Ministry and the Permanent Electoral Authority have started an awareness-raising campaign. The Prime Minister said that the Government takes full responsibility for organizing the elections in the Diaspora.
“The Government Im heading has taken responsibility for organizing the elections in an unbiased way, after the previous governments were repeatedly accused of faulty organization. However, the Government will organize the elections on the basis of the legislation passed by Parliament, because Parliament is the forum where debates take place and decisions are made to amend the election legislation. Anyway, in the present democratic system, the Government cannot interfere and amend the legislation all by itself, without Parliaments consent.
The Prime Minister made the statement after the National Liberal Party had called on the Government to issue an emergency ordinance amending the law whereby mayors are elected in a single ballot. The Social-Democratic Party dismisses the proposal, accusing its political opponents of aiming to amend the law in their own interest.
The Social-Democratic Party, which had to give up power last November, says amending the election law just only a few months before the local elections is inadmissible. Caught between the parties antagonistic options, the Government feels duty-bound to remind the political leaders that only Parliament, through a majority vote can amend the laws. Dacian Ciolos:
“Those who want the citizens to have more confidence in Parliament and its capacity of representing the debate in society, such a discussion in Parliament and the vote in Parliament on those bills would only benefit democracy in Romania.
This political attitude would be welcome now, when society firmly assumes the viewpoints on a new political construction in Romania.
(Translated by V. Palcu)
