The leftist government in Bucharest has issued an emergency order to
\nestablish that a referendum to redefine family in the Constitution would be
\nheld over the course of two days, on the 6th and 7th of
\nOctober. Romanian voters are expected to say whether they agree or not to the
\nrevision of a law stating that the family is based on the marriage between a
\nman and a woman, rather than between spouses, as it is now. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Save Romania Union, the only parliamentary party to oppose the
\nrevision saying it will create division in society, now speaks of procedural
\nflaws and calls on the Ombudsman to challenge in the Constitutional Court the
\ngovernment’s emergency order establishing the date of the referendum. In a
\npublic letter, the Save Romania Union says the measure should have been taken
\nby Parliament and not by government through an emergency order, and that the
\nlatter changed the referendum rules after the start of the referendum process,
\nwhich runs counter to the code of good practice recommended by the Venice
\nCommission, among others. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
A previous referendum to revise the Constitution from 2003 was also
\nheld over two days. The referendum in question was also called by a leftist
\ngovernment, but the revisions were of an entirely different nature, seeking to clearly
\nstating the principle of the separation of powers, guaranteeing the right to
\nproperty and creating a constitutional framework for the country’s
\nEuro-Atlantic integration. As indicated by the slogan Yes for Europe under
\nwhich it took place, the 2003 referendum was about revising the Constitution to
\nbring the country closer to western values. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The upcoming referendum, on the other hand, is the result of a
\ncitizen initiative that gathered 3 million signatures, and whose promoters,
\nnamely Christian organisations advocating the traditional family, have openly
\nadmitted their aim is to prevent same-sex marriage. High-ranking officials of
\nthe Orthodox Church, which is the church of the majority in Romania, have urged
\nthe faithful to say yes in the referendum. For, to quote the metropolitan of
\nArdeal Laurentiu Streza, those who will never be married in Church will ask
\nfor the right to marry and will also take our children, for they cannot have
\nchildren of their own. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In response, the representatives of Respect. The Platform for Rights
\nand Liberties, which brings together 110 organisations, advise people to
\nboycott the referendum so that this initiative, considered damaging, dangerous
\nand divisive, should not be adopted. The referendum of hatred is only an
\ninstrument to advance a backward and undemocratic agenda, the representatives
\nof this platform also say. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The critics and adversaries of the ruling coalition formed by the
\nSocial Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats say the
\nreferendum in which the government is investing so much money and energy is an
\nattempt to wash away the negative image created by the African swine flu
\nepidemic, the controversial changes to the criminal legislation and the
\nforceful intervention of the riot police at an anti-government protest last
\nmonth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romanian voters go to the ballots on 6 and 7 October in a referendum to redefine family in the Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":66207,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[34006],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-78808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-family-referendum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n