Parliament dismisses Ombudsman

parliament dismisses ombudsman Less than two years after she was appointed, Romania’s Ombudsman is now dismissed.

The Romanian Parliament on Wednesday dismissed Renate Weber from her position as Ombudsman with 247 MPs voting in favour and 32 against. The parties in the ruling coalition, namely the Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and PLUS Alliance and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, accuse her of overstepping her powers and violating the Constitution and say she did not support the authorities and did not initiate actions with respect to the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism and did not investigate accusations of illegal actions from the administration or of corruption from public servants.


The chair of the Senate's legal committee, the Liberal MP Iulia Scântei, explains why the legal committees also previously rejected the Ombudsman's activity reports:


"The Ombudsman did not act constantly in the relationship with Parliament and the other authorities, based on the principle of loyal cooperation. Neither did she fulfil, in 2020, her role and duties with respect to the defence, protection and promotion of the rights of children, who were strongly affected by the restrictions adopted during the pandemic."


Save Romania Union MP Andrei Lupu accused Renate Weber of being in the service of those who appointed her:


"I am absolutely convinced that you are a competent person, but there is one major problem in your activity more recently. You have done your job in a selfish way, in your own interest and of those who appointed you to your post."


From the opposition, the Social Democrats, who refused to take part in the vote in Parliament, say they will challenge the result in the Constitutional Court because the Ombudsman's dismissal is not justified. The Social Democrats are accusing the Liberals of wanting someone in this position who won't challenge the government's orders. The Social Democrat MP Titus Corlăţean:


"The Ombudsman safeguards the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, not of those of the government, of those in power. This clearly shows the unsophisticated manner in which the current right-wing government understands democracy and seeks to subordinate a fundamental institution that should be independent in any western-type democracy."


The leader of the Alliance of the Union of Romanians Claudiu Târziu described the dismissal of the Ombudsman as a "public execution". At the end of the debates in Parliament, Renate Weber said she has nothing to blame herself for while Ombudsman:


"I believe I have acted with dignity in this office. For me, rights and freedoms are sacred."


The ruling coalition is yet to propose a replacement but promised to do so before Parliament goes into recess. 



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Publicat: 2021-06-17 14:00:00
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