RSS
Iohannis: the danger of the epidemic has not passed
President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its 'acolytes' are doing all possible for authorities' effort to fail in respect to managing the current crisis.
He labeled the CCR view as "surprising" and maintained that, without the sanctions imposed during the state of emergency, there would have been more deaths.
"I saw yesterday the amount of satisfaction with which some politicians received the CCR [Constitutional Court of Romania] ruling on the fines enforced during this state of emergency period. It is yet another sign of carelessness, recklessness and misunderstanding of the mission they have, as well as a proof that for these politicians the political interest is above people. It is not entirely surprising that these sanctions are disputable today, although it is obvious for all of us that they have been useful to prevent the spread of the virus. Nonetheless surprising is the view of some authorities, who, through their mission or legal nature, have the constitutional obligation of not losing sight, when making decisions, of the general interest of the society. I am saying this will all responsibility, without these sanctions, the dead that we are mourning today would have been much more," the head of state said at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
According to Iohannis, in the current crisis "those responsible and brave separate out from those irresponsible, opportunists and populists who only make false promises."
He underscored that Romania, confronted with an unprecedented threat same as all the other states of the world, had to take drastic measures to protect the people and prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Iohannis has stressed that the danger of the epidemic has not passed "with the ruling of the Constitutional Court," and the rules and sanctions imposed by the authorities didn't have and do not have any other purpose than that of protecting health and life.
The Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR) on Wednesday admitted the notification of the Ombudsman on the provisions of article 28 of OUG1/1999, under which the fines were established for the failure to observe the restrictions during the state of emergency, finding that these are lacking clarity, precision and predictability, and the establishment of the deeds which represent contraventions is arbitrarily left to the free will of police officers.
On the other hand, President Iohannis has stated on Thursday that the Social Democratic Party (PSD) worked in Parliament "a lot and badly, downright toxic." "Taking advantage of the fact that public opinion is focused, as it is normal, on the fight to control the epidemic, the PSD worked in Parliament. It worked a lot and badly, downright toxic, as we have gotten accustomed to over the past years. This harmful party which took to the streets, let's not forget, hundreds of thousands of revolted Romanians, which put Romania in embarrassing positions in front of its European partners, continued to do what it knows best. Perhaps, being concerned with the worries of the moment, it's easy to forget what this party represents, which was on the brink of pulling our country away from the European path and throw it decades ago," the head of state said in a statement at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
Iohannis gave recent examples of laws "which would have harmed Romania's budget and which proved to be unconstitutional," namely those stipulating the suspension of payments on loans and utilities. Iohannis labeled them as "poorly written and populist laws, without clear criteria for enforcement."
The President argued that the PSD "remained the same party concerned only to save its barons."
"We had the latest example in Parliament, the other day. While public attention was focused on other topics, the PSD was busy striking again in the integrity standards implemented to public offices or regulating privileges. More specifically, the PSD, new or old, wants to allow some locally elected who have been declared as incompatible to run again for city halls or other positions," Iohannis explained, showing that this measure targets approximately 1,000 of local officeholders.
În turn, interim Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Marcel Ciolacu argued on Thursday that President Klaus Iohannis showed he is a politician "with dictatorial accents," "who must always be right" and who "attacks" fundamental institutions of the state, such as Parliament and the Constitutional Court of Romania (CCR), "weakening democracy."
"In the past two months, I have seen the biggest change in a politician in Romania. From a president who was asking the PSD to vote for his Orban Government, to a politician consumed by hatred, confused and with obviously extremist accents. Today, Iohannis has shown us once again that he is only the PNL [the National Liberal Party] chairman, he no longer behaves like a president of Romania. The latest public appearances have shown us that he has gone astray. Iohannis should have been the guarantor of the Constitution, but he is constantly attacking fundamental institutions of the state such as Parliament and the Constitutional Court. In doing so, Iohannis is weakening democracy and paving the way for a past we wanted to forget," Ciolacu stated in a press statement held at the PSD headquarters.
According to Ciolacu, the population is not tested for the novel coronavirus infection, "companies are closing every day, throwing hundreds of thousands of people into unemployment."
"The Government is no longer credible and can no longer borrow. The Government will soon run out of money for wages and pensions. Moreover, the PNL and the Government are using the pandemic to steal through their regular companies. Although Romanians face these problems every day, Iohannis doesn't talk about a project to relaunch economy. I haven't heard anything about it tonight either. Not a word. He only talks about the PSD. At every appearance, we see only an outpouring of hatred and mockery towards the Romanians who are waiting for solutions for what they put on their table tomorrow, for their jobs, for their families, for their health. We see a president desperate to defend an incompetent and incapable Government to come up with a project to protect Romanians' incomes. Romania is confronted with a pandemic and a severe economic crisis. The PNL has been in power for six months. The PSD is in the Opposition. Stop blaming others. You have all the power. Rule, take measures for Romanians," the PSD interim chairman conveyed.