Romanian Parliament approves President’s referendum on justice

Romania’s Parliament unanimously approved the referendum initiated by President Klaus Iohannis on justice. The Parliament voted on the referendum after a 40-minute talk. Following this vote, the President will be able to start the procedures for the referendum and decide what question will be written on the ballots. Social-Democrat MP Serban Nicolae said that the state needs to pay RON 250 million (EUR 55.5 million) for the referendum, an amount that hasn’t been included in this year’s budget. On January 24, the President called for organizing a referendum on justice and sent a letter on this topic to the Parliament. President Klaus Iohannis said the people needed to express their opinion on the continuation of the anticorruption fight in Romania as the new PSD-ALDE parliamentary majority and the new Government planned to change the criminal code and soften the anticorruption rules. After the President’s call for the referendum, the Government approved a controversial emergency ordinance (OUG 13) which partly decriminalized some corruption offences. The ordinance determined negative reactions from justice, business, and from Romania’s international partners, and sparked massive protests all over Romania. The Government repealed the ordinance less than a week after adopting it and the justice minister resigned, but protests have continued in Romania. editor@romania-insider.com