Potential Solutions for Diaspora Voting
The simple motion filed against the Foreign Affairs Minister Teodor Melescanu has been rejected by the Senate
Daniela Budu, 12.06.2019, 13:37
The Romanian
Senators have rejected the simple motion filed by the opposition, calling for
the resignation of the Romanian Foreign Minister, Teodor Melescanu, for the
flawed way in which last month’s referendum and European Parliament elections
were organized for the Romanians living abroad. The opposition, represented by
the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement
Party have accused the foreign minister of deliberately attempting to limit the
number of people able to vote on May 26th, and set up a smaller number
of polling stations in areas where large communities of Romanians live.
The
Save Romania Union Senator Mihai Gotiu believes that Teodor Melescanu did not
want to take responsibility for the situation in which Romanians abroad had to
queue for hours, some of them without even managing to cast their vote, and
chose to blame the embassies and the members of the diplomatic corps. Mihai
Gotiu:
You
have decided that the big cities, where everybody knows, including at
government level, that there are large communities of Romanians, should be
penalized and the polling stations there closed. We have no doubt that was a
bad will on your part that you did not correctly estimate the number of ballot
boxes and ballot papers needed in the big polling stations.
In reply, the
leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, has
stated that there was no possibility to add more to the existing polling
stations:
There
was no intention on Government’s part to prevent in any way people from voting,
but the sizing of the polling stations was decided based on the estimates made
by the Romanian diplomatic missions and consulates abroad. There are no clear
reports as to the number of Romanians who are living abroad.
In turn, the Liberal
Florin Citu has drawn attention to the fact, that, in the future, such mistakes
could be made again:
Minister Melescanu and the governing alliance deliberately boycotted the
simultaneous organization of the two ballots, by failing to observe some clear
obligations, provided by law. The only authority that could supplement polling
stations abroad and ensure the entire logistics for the referendum is the
Foreign Ministry.
The Foreign
Minister claims that holding the referendum on justice at the same time with
the European Parliament elections hampered the electoral process, and on the
day of the vote, dozens of party representatives did not report to the polling
stations. The minister admits, however, that the system must be changed for the
people who vote abroad. Minister Teodor Melescanu:
Based
on the current legislation, there was nothing more we could do and we are ready
to appear before the parliamentary commission that is to be created. Our idea is
to have an extended early vote, for a period of three to seven days, which
would eliminate any form of bureaucracy and which could help accelerate the
voting process.
The Romanian
Parliament has already set up a joint commission, which will discuss the
changes that need to be brought to the electoral process in the Diaspora.
