Romania’s Parliament adopts harsh statement against President Iohannis

Romania’s Parliament adopted on Wednesday a critical statement against President Klaus Iohannis and the Superior Council of Magistracy (CSM), accusing the President of “abuse of rights” and "usurpation" of the Parliament’s “exclusive right to hold the Government accountable for its actions.” The statement was proposed under a slightly different version by the Senate president Calin Popescu-Tariceanu three weeks ago, after the President and the Superior Council of Magistracy reacted to the Government’s decision to pass several important changes to the Criminal Code by emergency ordinance. Both the President and CSM notified Romania’s Constitutional Court (CCR) about a possible constitutional conflict resulted from the Government’s decision to change an important law for the justice system without consulting CSM. The CCR dismissed the notifications. In the statement, the Parliament says that any judgements that the President, CSM or representatives of the Public Ministry make related to the Government’s activity are unconstitutional and inacceptable, and undermine the Parliament’s role and prestige. “The direct way of electing the President has led to the false impression that he is the nation’s first representative, that he is a President of all Romanians, more legitimate and more representative than the Parliament,” reads the statement. The Parliament however considers itself the only constitutional representative of the Romanian society, and the only institution that can issue a structured and legal opinion in the name of the people. According to the Parliament, once elected, the President becomes “external to society” and has only a mediator role between society and public institutions. Former President Traian Basescu, who is the leader of the People's Movement Party (PMP), Catalin Predoiu of the National Liberal Party (PNL), and former Culture Minister Vlad Alexandru of the Union to Save Romania (USR) party were among those who criticized the statement. The Presidency also reacted to the statement saying that the views expressed by the Parliament are worrying and the statement can be interpreted as a form of pressure not only on the President but on other institutions as well. “Romania’s Constitution clearly establishes that Romania’s President is elected directly by the citizens. He has legitimacy and representativeness equal to those of the Parliament,” the Presidency’s statement reads. The President is not exterior to society. On the contrary, he expresses society’s interests and, according to the Constitution, he must have an active role, not just a symbolical one. The Presidency also says that the people's lack of trust in the Parliament won't be solved by blaming the President or other institutions for this. "The impression that the Parliament is just a spectator to political decisions could only be changed by holding authentic and transparent debates, by a responsible and predictable law making act, that serves society's general interest, and by an efficient control of the Government as a whole." Some political commentators say the Parliament’s statement is the first step towards suspending President Klaus Iohannis. The President had his first conflict with the current parliamentary majority made of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) after the parliamentary elections in December 2016, when