April 26, 2016 UPDATE
Tuesday was the last day for submitting candidacies in June local elections...
Newsroom, 26.04.2016, 12:15
ABU – The 4th edition of the ABU Radio Song Festival was held in Beijing, China. This event, organised by the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, is the Asian equivalent of the Eurovision Song Contest, but it only addresses radio stations. A special guest of the festival this year was Romania’s representative, Analia Selis. The festival marks the end of this year’s Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union Conference. On the sidelines of the Festival was held the Media 2020 Conference, organised by Radio Romania and Radio China International. The Conference focused on the need to further maintain the relevance of radio, by adjusting its content. An example of how to use radio to promote culture was offered by Radio Romania’s President and Director General, Ovidiu Miculescu, who talked about the Gaudeamus International Book Fair.
SURGERY – On Tuesday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis was operated on his right shoulder at the “Dr. Carol Davila” Military Hospital in Bucharest. The surgery went well and the President will resume his duties as of Wednesday.
ELECTIONS — In Romania, April 26 was the deadline for parties, election alliances, ethnic minority organisations and independent runners to submit their candidacies for the local elections. Candidacies may be challenged until May 1, and remain final as of May 4. The election campaign begins on May 6 and ends on June 4, one day before the elections. Competing in the local elections are established political parties like the Social Democrats, the Liberals, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats or the People’s Movement Party, as well as many new parties, given that as of last year the Romanian legislation allows for political parties to be set up by at least 3 members. It is for the third time since 1989 that a technocratic government organises elections in Romania, after the Theodor Stolojan Cabinet in 1991-1992, and the Mugur Isărescu Cabinet in 1999-2000.
NEGOTIATIONS — The authorities in Bucharest carry on talks with trade unions on a new emergency ordinance concerning salaries in the public sector. The Labour Minister, Dragoş Pîslaru, has announced that the priority in these negotiations is to do away with imbalances in the system. The order on public sector salaries is to be subject to public debate starting mid-May and to take effect as of June 1. In the last three-party meeting, the main trade union federations demanded an increase of all public sector salaries, instead of only the smaller ones, as the Government intends, and warned that otherwise protests might be resumed.
LOAN — The Romanian Senate endorsed a law concerning a 150 million euro loan to be granted by Romania to the neighbouring Republic of Moldova, for the financing of the country’s budget deficit. Last November, the law was sent back to Parliament by President Klaus Iohannis, against the backdrop of political tensions in Chisinau and of uncertainties related to the implementation of the reforms. The loan is to be transferred in maximum three instalments.
COLECTIV — The interim Prosecutor General of Romania, Bogdan Licu, announced the opening of a criminal investigation into the leaking of information in the Colectiv case, after a few days ago the media published a copy of the indictment. The Colectiv case, concerning the fire that killed 64 people last October in a nightclub in Bucharest, is to be tried in the forthcoming period. According to the information made public by the media, six people are reportedly sent to court: the three owners of the nightclub, two pyrotechnicians and the owner of a fireworks company. The tragedy was followed by large-scale street protests, which led to the resignation of PM Victor Ponta.
CHERNOBYL – Ukraine commemorated on Tuesday 30 years since the worst nuclear accident in history, the explosion of one reactor in the Chernobyl nuclear plant. During the 10-day fire that followed, huge amounts of radioactive substances were spread in the atmosphere. There are no official data concerning the total number of victims, but 25,000 people are known to have died in decontamination operations alone. According to experts, the death toll is a lot higher. A UN survey indicates that nearly 5 million people affected by radiation exposure still live in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
(Translated by Elena Enache)
