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President Iohannis accuses PSD of fighting to give Transylvania away to Hungarians
On Wednesday, President Klaus Iohannis criticised a bill on the autonomy of the Szeklerland, claiming that the social Democratic Party (PSD - opposition) helped the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) to pass this piece of legislation in the Chamber of Deputies.
"Jo napot kivanok [good afternoon in Hungarian], PSD. It is incredible, dear Romanians, what is happening in the Romanian Parliament. PSD has helped UDMR to pass through the Chamber of Deputies a law that gives wide autonomy to the Szeklerland. It is incredible where we have arrived with this PSD. It is incredible what agreements are made in Parliament. It is incredible while I, we, the government, the other authorities are fighting for the lives of Romanians, we are fighting to get rid of this pandemic, the great PSD is fighting in the secret offices of Parliament to give Transylvania away to the Hungarians. Jo napot, Ciolacu! What has the leader of Budapest, Viktor Orban, promised you in exchange for this agreement?," Iohannis told a press briefing at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
He warned Romanians that this means a "toxic PSD majority." "Therefore, my dear ones, it is now better understood why I wanted early elections. I no longer want the important problems of the nation to be decided by PSD. I no longer want this toxic PSD majority to decide against Romania and against Romanians. That is inadmissible and as long as I am the president of Romania, such a law will not exist," Iohannis concluded.
A bill on the autonomy of the Szeklerland has passed the Chamber of Deputies by tacit approval and it will move on to the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this case.
As the deadline for a debate and vote in the Chamber of Deputies ran out, and the chamber found the tacit adoption of the draft in a sitting of April 23, the legislative proposal passed as submitted by the initiators - Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) MPs Kulcsar-Terza Jozsef-Gyorgy and Biro Zsolt-Istvan. The Committee on Administration had issued a negative opinion on the bill.
The draft provides for the Szeklerland to become an autonomous region with a legal personality.
The Administrative Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has drawn up a report rejecting the legislative proposal on the grounds that it "as a whole, it runs contrary to the constitutional rules and principles, domestic legal order, European Union law and international law." The Romanian government has also issued an opinion that it does not support the adoption of the legislative proposal, and the Economic and Social Council (ESC) and the Legislative Council have also issued negative opinions.
The bill was sent to the Senate, which is the decision-making body in this case.
UPDATE: Having taken note of the rejection, by the Senate, of the legislative proposal on the Szeklerland autonomy, President Klaus Iohannis cautions that such initiatives should never again be found on the agenda of Parliament.
"The President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, has taken note of the decision of the Senate, as decision-making body, to reject the legislative proposal on the Szeklerland Autonomy Statute. (...) The President of Romania cautions that the promotion of such legislative proposals is harmful for the Hungarian community in the first place and causes artificial social tension which risks escalating. Such legislative initiatives that defy the constitutional order should never again be on the agenda of the Parliament of Romania!," the Presidential Administration said in a release.
According to the cited source, "in absence of a firm intervention" by President Klaus Iohannis, who "drew attention of this dangerous and toxic move's gravity for the stability of Romanian democracy, the Senate wouldn't have fast-tracked the vote whereby this unconstitutional and extremely dangerous bill that had been tacitly adopted in the Chamber of Deputies, with the reckless complicity of the Social Democratic Party, was rejected by a wide majority."
The Senate, as a decision-making body, on Wednesday rejected the draft law on the autonomy of the Szeklerland, which provided that it would become an autonomous region with legal personality.
Senators voted by telephone in favour of the rejection report drawn up by the Administrative Committee - 126 votes "in favour" and 9 "against".
The legislative proposal was passed earlier in the day by the Chamber of Deputies, tacitly, in the form submitted by the initiators, the UDMR (Hungarian Democrat Union of Romania) deputies, Kulcsar-Terza Jozsef-Gyorgy and Biro Zsolt-Istvan