UDMR Blasts Opposition Parties Ahead Of No-Confidence Motion
Kelemen Hunor, president of the Hungarian minority party UDMR, said he concluded that the opposition parties do not currently want to rule the country because the parties signing the no-confidence motion against the Dancila Cabinet compete against each other.
UDMR head also said each party has a governing program, but one cannot implement three governing programs and one prime minister.
Kelemen Hunor added that he drew a correct conclusion, namely, that the opposition parties cannot jointly rule the country.
The no-confidence motion filed by opposition parties against the Viorica Dancila Government had its first reading in Parliament Monday, with a debate and final vote to take place on Thursday. Romanian parliamentary opposition parties filed on Friday a no-confidence motion against the Government, with the signatures of 163 MPs. Opposition parties PNL, USR and PMP filed the motion criticizing the government for its recent judicial bills, but also for not respecting its own government program. Under Romanian law, one no-confidence motion can be filed per parliamentary session. A previous no-confidence motion against the Viorica Dancila Government failed to gain the necessary support in July. The motion needs the votes of 233 MPs to pass and overthrow the Cabinet. (romanialibera.ro)
Iohannis: “Romanians Want Rule Of Law, But Some Politicians Want Something Else”
President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday that he cannot give up the independence of justice and the rule of law, arguing that he won’t question these two aspects in a discussion with politicians who “want to question precisely these things.”
In a dialogue with the young winners of the Civic Avengers competition part of the Once Upon a Time in Romania project of Initiative Romania, the head of state was asked: “Have you thought about changing the parliamentary republic form into a presidential republic, because, this way, you would have greater power to make changes?”
“(…) I am not at all willing to compromise when talking about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Romania. Here, I have a very clear opinion – we need an independent justice, it is mandatory and we want a rule of law in Romania. We want to be in Europe, I am not willing at all to question these things in a discussion with politicians who, and you certainly noticed that, want to question precisely these things. This is not possible and then, naturally, we have these divergences of opinions and, in the end, the voter should say which is the version that he/she wants. I am convinced that he/she wants the version described by me, at least a large majority,” the head of state said. (puterea.ro)
Romania Announces New Taxes To Gain Extra RON10B Revenue
Finance Minister Eugen Teodorovici on Tuesday evening announced new taxes on bank assets, energy and telecom companies, which he intends to use to patch the holes in the 2019 budget.
Sources close to the government said the amount the government expects to collect as a result of the new taxes is 10 billion lei (over EUR2 billion).
Other taxes considered: a hike of taxes for telecom companies, as well as a maximum power price.
“We know very well that, unfortunately, their behavior (of the energy companies i.e.) shows contempt for the economy in Romania. A behavior based on existing laws but unfair to the Romanian economy. These companies, using various methods, such as the natural gas sector does, there are really wide gaps between production and final prices, so a cap of RON68/MWh is required for three years until February 28, 2022, which means the gas price may not go over RON68/MWh no matter the seller.
This change came as a result of the improper behavior of producers,” Teodorovici said.
The government proposed introducing a so-called ‘greed tax’ on bank assets. This tax will apply when the three-month and six-month ROBOR go beyond a certain level, the finance minister said.
When the ROBOR is between 3.01% and 3.5%, the tax is 0.9% of the bank assets, which means an additional RON3.6 billion. (romanialibera.ro)