Gloves-off
\npolitics – crisis in the ruling coalition <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After a number
\nof harsh verbal exchanges and several setbacks in the functioning of the local
\nadministration, the center-right ruling coalition on Wednesday reached a
\ndeadlock after the unexpected demise by Liberal Prime Minister Florin C\u00ee\u0163u of the USR-PLUS Justice
\nMinister, Stelian Ion. The head of government says his decision was based on
\nIon’s refusal to greenlight the Anghel Saligny infrastructure project, where
\nIon claims to have identified several constitutional and illegal issues. In
\nresponse, the USR-PLUS alliance announced it withdraws its political
\nsupport for Florin C\u00ee\u0163u and filed a no-confidence vote agaisnt him jointly with AUR. On
\nThursday, the leadership of the National Liberal Party adopted a resultion
\nreasserting its support for its own Prime Minister. UDMR, the third-largest
\nruling coalition partner, supports the need to implement the said projecta and said the coalition must move foward.
\nPolitical pundits and some politicians say the current crisis may have other,
\nmore problematic reasons, such as issues pertaining to the reform of the
\njudiciary and the leadership of key judicial institutions. From the opposition,
\nPSD and AUR say the
\nC\u00ee\u0163u Cabinet must be removed. President Klaus Iohannis signed the decrees
\ndismissing Stelian Ion and appointing Interior Minister Lucian Bode as interim
\nJustice Minister.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The politics
\nof autumn – a new Parliament session<\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The first day
\nof autumn also marked the beginning of a new Parliament session. According to
\nMPs, the number one priority of the ruling coalition, announced before the
\ncrisis, is the adoption of the so-called law on vulnerable consumers. Already
\nadopted by the Senate, the bill stipulates state aid to low-income families,
\nhelping them pay one energy bill. At Senate level, coalition leaders are
\nexpected to come up with a new solution to disband the Special Section
\ninvestigating Crime in Justice, another bone of contention in the ruling
\ncoalition. PSD wants to swiftly debate and adopt the bill titled No criminals
\nin public office, a topic which for years had been championed by the
\nright-wing. President Klaus Iohannis said a number of reforms are still needed,
\nand that Parliament still has unsolved business to attend to, calling on MPs
\nto show Romanians some respect through their actions. The president also said
\npeople’s confidence in Parliament is not at its highest right now, representing
\nan acute issue, which has heightened over the years against the backdrop of
\nthe huge gap between promises made by politicians during election campaigns and
\nthe results reported at the end of their term in office. For this very reason,
\nreturning to citizen-oriented policies should be the new line of action for
\nParliament’s next session, the president added. Klaus Iohannis also said the
\nnew session starts at a very difficult time, both nationally and
\ninternationally, with the world still struggling to deal with the fallouts of
\nCOVID-19. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Politics and
\nthe pandemic – resurge in the number of COVID infections <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The
\nepidemiological context has again taken a turn for the worse, every day more
\nand more cases of the new Delta strain of COVID-19 being reported across
\nRomania. The country has seen an increase in the number of infections, patients
\nbeing treated in hospitals as well as fatalities, at the end of a summer
\nwithout restrictions. Romania is now under the fourth wave of the pandemic, and
\nit seems to be paying the price of vaccination hesitancy. Romania and
\nneighboring Bulgaria are the EU countries with the lowest vaccination rates
\nright now. In a last effort to boost vaccination, the Government this week
\nannounced 100-lei meal vouchers will be given to people who complete the
\nvaccination scheme, as well as the organization of a lottery. The health system
\nis again reporting difficulties in certain areas of the country, and experts
\nexpect things to further worsen. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Politics and
\neducation – a new school year starts on September 13 <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A new school
\nyear is set to start on September 13, a situation that last year resulted in a
\nresurge of the number of COVID infections across the country. This time, the
\npoliticians decided to ease restrictions – in towns and villages where the
\nincidence rate is below 6 per thousand inhabitants, classes will be held with
\nfull physical attendance for nursery schools and elementary schools. That, of
\ncourse, with the full observance of health safety measures. Where the incidence
\nrate exceeds 6 per thousand, nursery schools will remain open to physical
\nattendance in class until quarantine is introduced, where necessary, the Prime
\nMinister announced. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
No politics – the
\nGeorge Enescu International Music Festival <\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A new edition
\nof the George Enescu International Music Festival kicked off this week in
\nRomania, marking 140 years since the birth of the great Romanian composer. The
\nfestival’s artistic director, Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski, says the
\nmost prestigious artists have come to Bucharest this year. 3,500 Romanian and
\nforeign musicians, 32 orchestras from 14 countries are taking part. The 25th
\nedition of the festival brings us one step closer to society as we k new it, a
\nsociety of crowded concert halls, which makes us regain trust that together we
\ncan celebrate quality, Minister of Culture Bogdan Gheorghiu has said. (VP)<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A roundup of the week’s top stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":124789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40944],"tags":[42304],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-124834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-week-in-review","tag-the-week-in-review"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n