President Klaus Iohannis on the state of Romania
In a formal address to Romanias Parliament, President Klaus Iohannis has made a proposal to Romanian politicians, according to which 2016 should be a different election year.
Roxana Vasile, 23.02.2016, 15:03
An election year devoid of populism, a genuine concern for the citizens’ agenda and working closely with the other state powers — that is what, at a domestic level, Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis wants from Romania’s Parliament in the next period of time.
Experience has taught Romanians that the end of an election cycle, ahead of each regeneration of the country’s political class, triggered a set of measures favoring one political party or another, policies pursued as a result of low-down election scheming, the earmarking of funds according to party membership, populist or unsustainable promises and even laws that were never enforced.
No one has ever questioned the parties’ legitimate wish to win votes. However, just as any sideslip can render Romania’s democracy and economy more fragile, in 2016, which is an election year at local and parliamentary level, politicians stand the chance to do things differently, president Iohannis said. The competition for votes should in no way rule out the concern for a long-term buildup, the election campaign frenzy should not curb serious debates, while spectacular topics need not rule out crucial issues on the public agenda, which are definitely of interest to Romanians’ lives. Accordingly, the fact that the rulers’ term in office is drawing to a close should entail more consideration, more responsibility and much more concern for genuinely listening to what citizens actually want.
Addressing Parliament this past Monday, Klaus Iohannis highlighted the following: “What I am proposing is a different election year, which should be neither populist, nor should it be a hopeless year for the great topics of public interest, but at the same time it should not be a year of risky measures either.”
Starting out from such estimates, the high stakes of the year 2016 are regaining confidence in politics, the smooth running of democratic institutions, further efforts in areas where Romania has made progress and won the respect of its foreign partners. No less important is laying the foundation on which something can be built in 2017, irrespective of the winning political party or coalition. President Klaus Iohannis maintained the commitments he had made as regards the strengthening of the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the fight against corruption.
Against this backdrop, the Romanian president expressed his dissatisfaction with the fact that Parliament has never ceased to obstruct the demands of the judiciary: ”I am unpleasantly surprised that in certain legal matters it hasn’t as yet been understood that parliamentary immunity must not be used to obstruct the demands of the judiciary. It so happens that, as regards the response to the demands of the judiciary, a couple of steps forward are being followed by a step backward, which yet again questions Parliament’s credibility as well as the will to have a fair relationship with the judiciary.
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis made it clear he would not be just a spectator as regards the appointment of the new heads of the Anti-Corruption Directorate and those of the High Court of Cassation and Justice. Also, Iohannis voiced hope that there will be a genuinely serious competition in that area, with no involvement whatsoever of any political party in the activity of the aforementioned legal bodies.
As regards Romania’s foreign policy, one of the country’s key objectives at the NATO summit in Warsaw is the reiteration of the Alliance’s strong interest in the Black Sea area. Also, Romania must get actively involved not only in the identification of solutions to the crises the European Union is at present faced with, but also in the reiteration of the commitment to and confidence in the European project.
