Often criticized
\nfor their overt apathy and lack of civic participation, Romanians were the
\nvictors of Sunday’s European Parliament election. Half of them voted in the
\nelection, which represents an all-time high, and 41% voted in the referendum on
\nthe judiciary called by the president, thus exceeding the 30% threshold
\nrequired to validate the referendum. At the referendum Romanians were asked
\nwhether or not they agreed to forbidding amnesty and pardon for
\ncorruption-related offenses, as well as forbidding emergency decrees targeting
\nthe justice system. Images of endless Romanians standing in line abroad, trying
\nto exercise their constitutional right to vote, went viral online. Some of them
\ndid manage to vote, despite standing in line for hours, feeling frustrated and
\nangry, all the more so as the same happened at the presidential election of
\n2014, when Romanians in the Diaspora also waited for hours in line to cast
\ntheir vote. This is why President Klaus Iohannis and the main opposition parties
\nin Romania, the National Liberal Party and the 2020 Save Romania Union – Plus
\nAlliance have called on the left-of-center Government to step down. The
\nPresident congratulated Romanians for the good voter turnout, saying their vote
\nhas conveyed a clear message to the political class. Klaus Iohannis:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
You have cast a clear and
\npowerful vote that no politician in Romania can ignore. You have voted for fair
\npolicy-making, for an upright judiciary, for an independent judiciary, for good
\ngovernance, to the benefit of Romanians and Romania. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Sunday’s ballot
\nhas overthrown the political rankings in Romania. The National Liberal Party is
\nnow in top position, followed by the Social-Democratic Party. The 2020 Save
\nRomania Union – Plus Alliance is now in third place. The Pro Romania Party, the
\nPeople’s Movement Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
\nRomania will also be represented in the new European Parliament. The Social-Democratic Party has lost not just
\n20% of the votes they received at the legislative election of 2016, but also
\ntheir coalition partners, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats from Romania,
\nwho failed to reach the 5% threshold. Social-Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea
\nthanked Romanians who voted for the Social-Democratic Party and reiterated his
\nsupport for the governing program, admitting however the result is not a
\nsatisfying one. Commonly seen as the number one beneficiary of the cascading
\nchanges brought to the criminal legislation, Liviu Dragnea said he has never
\nquestioned the referendum on the judiciary. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The party must conduct swift
\nand comprehensive analyses. Regarding the referendum, today I voted in the
\nreferendum as well. Like I’ve said on several occasions, I am not against the
\nreferendum and I am not against the topics it proposed. Romanian society never
\nhad a debate concerning the fight against corruption or any other related
\ntopics. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Liberal leader
\nLudovic Orban believes the results of the European Parliament election and the
\nreferendum reflect the will of Romanian citizens.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Starting today, no political leader will dare speak of amnesty, pardons or
\ndestroying the justice system by means of emergency degrees. I am grateful to
\nall Romanian citizens who cast their votes and who voted for the National
\nLiberal Party. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The president of
\nPLUS Party, Dacian Ciolos, in turn hailed Sunday’s vote, which he considers
\nproof of the country’s revival, while his coalition partner, Dan Barna, the
\npresident of Save Romania Union, said the results are a huge win for Romania.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This reaction is the element
\non which we can further build our future. This referendum shows that when the
\ndecent forces of society unite, the President, opposition parties who’ve never
\nstopped believing that the justice system should remain independent, such a
\nreferendum can pass, confirming that the judiciary must remain independent and
\nRomania must remain a part of Europe. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Pro Romania
\nparty passed its first election test, becoming the 4th political
\nfaction in Romania. Pro Romania President Victor Ponta believes the result
\nshows Romania is ready for a change. <\/p>\n
(Translated by V. Palcu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The European Parliament election has overthrown the political hierarchy in Romania, while the referendum on the judiciary has sent out a strong signal to the political class<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":81264,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[34468,28945,30443,34643,39678,29346],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-european-parliament-election","tag-klaus-iohannis","tag-national-liberal-party","tag-referendum-on-the-judiciary","tag-save-romania-union-plus-alliance","tag-social-democratic-party"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n