Prima pagină » English » Romanian President Wants Immunity Lifted For Ministers, Lawmakers, President

Romanian President Wants Immunity Lifted For Ministers, Lawmakers, President

Romanian President Traian Basescu, running for reelection in a December 6 runoff against social democrat Mircea Geoana, said Tuesday he regrets not polling Romanians about lifting officials’ immunity at the referendum held Sunday, along with the first round of elections.
Romanian President Wants Immunity Lifted For Ministers, Lawmakers, President
26 nov. 2009, 11:51, English

Basescu added he hopes, however, the question of immunity for lawmakers, ministers and the head of state will be addressed when the Constitution is revised, saying he would call for a new referendum otherwise.

Romanians were polled in a national referendum Sunday, held at the same time with the first round of presidential elections, to make the country’s Parliament single-chamber and cut the number of lawmakers to maximum 300 from the current 471.

Final referendum results released Thursday show 77.78% of voters supported a single-chamber Parliament and 88.84% supported downsizing the Parliament to a maximum 300 MPs.

Basescu said he thinks Romanians want lawmakers, ministers and the head of state to have their immunity lifted and if politicians refuse to include this measure when the Constitution is revised, he will call for another referendum.

The European Commission criticized the Romanian Parliament, in its reports on the country’s justice system, for hindering criminal probes into corruption cases involving top officials by refusing to lift their immunity.