Fresh protests in Romania
The discontent triggered by justice laws amendments as well as by the envisaged fiscal measures have brought many Romanians to the streets of their cities
Corina Cristea, 06.11.2017, 14:41
The PSD-ALDE ruling majority is campaigning for a higher threshold of the prejudice caused, a move that has been considered by the opposition as an attempt to bail out its members accused of abuse of office, beginning with the coalition strongman, Social-Democratic leader Liviu Dragnea.
Dissatisfied with the draft amendments to the Justice Laws and other legal projects, as well as with the politicians from Romanias ruling coalition, thousands took to the streets of Bucharest and other cities in Romania and abroad on Sunday night. In Bucharest, protesters gathered in front of the government building to later march towards the Parliament Palace. Over 20 thousand protesters began chanting anti-government slogans saying that corruption and incompetence are still rampant in the ruling coalition. People are discontented with the political approach to the countrys legal system, the situation in the education and healthcare systems as well as by what they described as “a stuttering fiscal system.
I want a normal country. I want my child to live in a healthy society; I dont want to push them abroad. Dont want to wish to leave the country any more. Let them PSD leave the country and even the whole political class of the post-December Romania at that.
“In my opinion the new amendments have been exclusively tailored to fit them. This fiscal jumble and all. Almost all the people I meet are asking themselves ‘where this country is heading to and if its still worth investing in it or just shutting down our enterprises and leaving.
In all of Romanias major cities, Brasov, Cluj, Timisoara, Sibiu, Iasi, Arad, Suceava, Braila, Constanta, Oradea and Ploiesti, people had largely used social networks to join these protest rallies. “The purpose of our protests is the same as in February, but this time, cubed. The situation is even worse now than what brought us in front of Romanias Parliament in winter.
What they want now is not only to avoid legal punishment in the case of corrupt officials in higher positions in the Romanian state but also to wipe out some crimes from the Criminal Codes. It seems that for these people only the sky is the limit. Im gonna say it again, it was very serious what happened in February, when they tried to come up like thieves with an overnight emergency ordinance to stay above prison sentences or any other crime punishment, but now its far more serious, says Sebastian Duma, president of the Civic Association in Oradea, western Romania, who organized the protest in that city. His opinion has also been shared by protesters in other regions.
The envisaged fiscal amendments, providing for the transfer of social insurance contributions from employers to employees is another source for discontent, as some believe they will trigger new pay and jobs cuts.
