Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis
\non Thursday announced plans to call a referendum on the 26th of May,
\non the same day as the European elections. He did not say what question would
\nbe on the ballot, but confirmed that it would deal with the judiciary, which he
\nsaid has been under attack from the Social Democratic Party ever since the
\nlatter came to power in January 2017. The president blamed the Social
\nDemocrats, who are the main party in the ruling coalition, of preparing a new
\nemergency order to amend the criminal codes, after a previous one about the
\njustice laws. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The president used the opportunity
\ngiven by his announcement of the referendum to criticise the government:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Amateurism and incompetence is what
\ncharacterises the governance of the Social Democratic Party. When these two
\ncharacteristics intertwine with the intention to pass laws in the interest of
\ncriminals, be they even party leaders, Romania is faced with a disaster. The
\nSocial Democrats must put an end to these constant attacks against the
\njudiciary. The Social Democrats must understand that the judiciary is not at
\ntheir disposal. These are extremely simple principles in a rule of law and a
\ndemocracy, these are values for which people took to the streets in December
\n1989 and in the last two years. It is clear that the Social Democratic Party is
\ntrying to ignore these truths. But let me give them the news: they can no
\nlonger do it. The judiciary is a matter of national interest and the citizens
\nhave the sovereign right to decide if they want to let corruption become state
\npolicy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Soon after the president’s
\nannouncement, the leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea gave a
\nstatement saying he is close to filing a complaint for high treason against
\nKlaus Iohannis. He didn’t give details, but accused the president of treating
\njudicial institutions as if they were subordinated to him and of putting
\npressure on judges, a reference to the consultations Iohannis had with
\nmagistrates before calling a referendum. Liviu Dragnea also said the Social
\nDemocrats have no worries about the referendum and that is why they will not
\ntreat it in any special way. Liviu Dragnea:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Social Democratic Party will
\nnot have a strategy for this referendum called by the president of Romania. The
\nSocial Democratic Party has two very clear objectives: to govern this country
\nas well as it has done so far, to continue the economic growth and to adopt
\ngood measures for the Romanians, and secondly, to run a well-organised campaign
\nfor the European Parliament elections so that our message reaches every
\nRomanian, namely what the party’s MEPs will do in the European Parliament.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The opposition and civic
\norganisations back the idea of a referendum on justice. Amidst speculations
\nthat the president wants to use the referendum to boost voter turnout in the
\nEuropean elections and thus the chances of the opposition parties, some NGOs
\nhave warned that the referendum should not be treated as a way of busing
\npeople to voting stations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Referendum on justice to be held in Romania on 26th May, on same day as elections for European Parliament.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":78355,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29871,29972],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-justice","tag-referendum"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n