Two separate protests erupt in Bucharest

Newsroom 05/02/2017 | 20:12

Over 100,000 people were calling, in Bucharest, for the resignation of the center-left government led by Sorin Grindeanu in a peaceful protest that was taking place outside the government building on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, several thousands of people rallied outside the Cotroceni Palace to express their anger at president Klaus Iohannis. This was for the first time when people were asking for the resignation of Romania’s president, since the start of the protests in Romania in late January.

Tens of thousands of people swarmed the streets of the main Romanian cities and abroad, despite the government’s decision to repeal controversial amendments to the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedural Code.

“At this moment, Romania is split in two. I appealed for calm, because we won the elections, us PSD together with ALDE. And we have received a mandate from the citizens and millions of votes,” said Grindeanu on Sunday evening, in an interview at Antena 3 TV station.

The proposed changes approved by Grindeanu’s government would have partially decriminalize the abuse in office. The foreign embassies and representatives of the legal community, alongside top officials from the European Union and the United States of America warned that such amendments would undermine Romania’s rule of law and its anti-corruption efforts.

Meanwhile, PM Grindeanu said he will not step down and that the government will initiate a wide debate regarding the Criminal Code amendments before submitting the changes to the Parliament as a draft bill for approval. A separate controversial draft bill, aiming to pardon certain categories of prisoners, would also get on the table of MPs.

On Sunday evening, the head of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Liviu Dragnea, claimed that the protest staged in front of the government building was “political” as it looks like a rally that is “professionally organized.”

Hundreds of thousands of people attended protests since January 31, when the controversial amendments to the Criminal Code had been initially approved by the government.

Ovidiu Posirca

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