RSS
PES leader: In last months we have been witnessing serious assault on democratic system in Romania
Romania is in a state of social and economic crisis and in the last months we have been witnessing an assault on the democratic and welfare systems in this country, leader of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said ahead of a Summit of the European Socialists and Social Democratic leaders taking place in Brussels on Wednesday evening, on the eve of the summer European Council.
After having put the entire burden of the crisis on the shoulders of the public sector workers, of the children and of the retirees, Mr (Traian) Basescu now apparently limits the civil freedoms, among which the legitimate right to protest. Romania deserves something better, the PES leader said in a joint declaration with chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, in opposition) Victor Ponta, who is to attend the PES leaders' meeting.
In turn, Ponta said that 'President Basescu has given the Government a totalitarian orientation'. 'His extremely difficult budget austerity - the only instrument he uses - has brought nothing else but more political instability and social troubles to the most serious economic crisis the Romanians are seeing', the Romanian Social Democratic leader said.
The PES declaration also stresses the European Commission's lack of response to 'the recent attacks against the democratic standards in Romania'. 'Demonising of the opposition, the moves to block Mr (Valer) Dorneanu's access (to a judge's position - editor's note) in the Constitutional Court, the pressure put on the public workers in order to refrain from protesting and the approval of such unconstitutional measures as the pensions cuts pose a threat to Romania's democracy and stability. The PES backed the no-confidence motion presented yesterday in Romanian Parliament by the PSD and backed by the National Liberal Party and the Conservative Party and also supported by the trade unions', the PES declaration says, Agerpres correspondent reports.