The debates on the postal voting law

The Social Democrats have promised, on behalf of the ruling coalition, that the Electoral Code Committee would draft the postal voting bill by next week.

România Internațional, 07.10.2015, 13:39

The Social Democrats have promised, on behalf of the ruling coalition, that the Electoral Code Committee would draft the postal voting bill by next week. This announcement was made after the coalition and the opposition traded accusations of delaying the debate on this bill, which should be passed by the end of November in order to be used in the 2016 elections.

The Social Democratic Party, the major force in the ruling coalition in Romania, has promised to draft the postal voting bill by next week. The Social Democrat MP Gabriel Vlase is now the chairman of the Electoral Code Committee following the resignation of the Liberal MP Mihai Voicu to protest against the delays in the passing of the bill. The leader of the Social Democrat MPs Marian Neacsu promised, on behalf of the ruling coalition, that the committee would come up with a feasible bill by mid next week, a bill that could then be submitted to Parliament for debate and approval.

Marian Neacsu: “I reiterate the commitment made here and on behalf of the committee chairman, the Permanent Electoral Authority and my colleagues from the other parliamentary groups that the relevant committee will come up with a feasible bill to solve the problem of Romanian voters abroad.”

The representatives of the Social Democratic Party have taken these measures following a token strike initiated by the Liberal MPs in opposition on Monday so as to speed up the passing of the bill. The Liberals accused the Social Democrats of postponing a debate on the bill, while the latter warned that the Liberal Party had sufficient time to promote the bill while holding the chairmanship of the Electoral Code Committee. The leader of the Liberal MPs Eugen Nicolaescu has criticised the fact that the decision on the appointment of a new chairman of the Electoral Code Committee failed to include a deadline for the drafting of the postal voting bill.

Eugen Nicolaescu: “We have taken note of the commitment made by the leader of the Social Democratic group, Marian Neacsu, that the committee would come up with a bill by the middle of next week. No clear deadline has been established so we will see if the deadline we have set will be met.”

The postal voting bill has to pass by early November in order to be used in the legislative elections of 2016. Romanian voters abroad in particular have insistently called for such a bill to prevent the problems encountered during last year’s presidential elections from occurring again. At the time, many protests against the Social Democratic government were held over long queues at voting stations abroad and the fact that people were sometimes unable to cast their votes.