September 21, 2013
Click here for a roundup of domestic and international news
Leyla Cheamil, 21.09.2013, 00:25
President of Romania, Traian Basescu, Saturday notified the Constitutional Court on the Referendum Act, claiming that the text includes provisions that come against the constitutional principle of the people’s sovereignty. The president argues that lowering the referendum validation threshold to 30% is against the Constitution. According to the presidency, in the Constitution the concept of majority is defined as 50% plus one citizen. On May 29th, the Chamber of Deputies endorsed a bill that lowered the turnout threshold for a referendum to be validated from 50 to 30%.
The prime minister of Romania Victor Ponta will make official visits to Finland and Lithuania on Monday and Tuesday, with a view to strengthening political dialogue and encouraging economic cooperation. In Finland, Victor Ponta will have meetings with his counterpart, Jyrki Katainen, and the Parliament speaker, Eero Heinaluoma, and will take part in a business forum. In Lithuania, the country that currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, the Romanian official will meet his counterpart, Algirdas Butkevicius, and the Parliament speaker Vydas Gedvilas, as well as representatives of the business community.
In Bucharest, representatives of the Coalition of Healthcare Professionals are meeting again on Sunday with minister Eugen Nicolaescu to discuss the complaints of the medical staff. They took to the streets for three days in a row, to protest against the sector’s under-funding and to demand the allocation of at least 6% of the GDP for healthcare, as well as legislation able to guarantee professional independence. Unless their demands are met, the employees in the healthcare system are planning a large-scale rally in Bucharest in October, and in November a general strike will be organised, with only one-third of the sector’s activity being continued.
Thousands of bikers took part in a rally in Bucharest on Saturday, to protest the lack of adequate infrastructure. The rally took place on the International Car Free Day, and its complementary aim was to raise awareness on a vital solution for Bucharest — bicycle runs on streets. According to the organisers, the protesters are disgruntled with the encouragement of motor transport in Europe’s most polluted capital, Bucharest, and with the lack of long-term vision on the part of local authorities with respect to increasing the quality of life.
Close to 62 million Germans are expected to polling stations in Sunday’s legislative election. The latest opinion poll ahead of the election indicates that the Christian Democratic Union headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel is likely to win the largest number of votes, but it is unclear whether the Liberals, the Conservatives’ current coalition partners, will make it into the Bundestag. According to polls, 38% to 40% of the voters prefer the Conservatives, thus confirming their support for the policies of Angela Merkel’s cabinet. The programme proposed by the Social-Democrats is only appealing to 25%-26% of the voters. The ecologists, traditionally allied to the Socialists, may win 10% to 11% of the votes, and the Liberals are likely to get 5% to 6% of the votes, and as such are in danger of not reaching the Parliamentary threshold.
