Opposition Party Leader: President Should Chair All Cabinet Meeting To Block Pardoning Decree

Barna announced that his party will do everything in its power to stop such a decree, but advised Iohannis to use his powers as president to chair all Romanian Government meetings in December, suggesting he would be able to do so due to the upcoming EU Council presidency.

“Indeed, the Constitution specifies very clearly in which situations can the president lead Government meetings, but one of them refers to matters of foreign policy. Currently, we are less than one month away until Romania will take over the EU Council presidency, and it is obvious that in this context every Government meeting will have this subject on its agenda, which is the highest priority of Romanian foreign policy,” said the USR leader.

The opposition leader called back to a similar move made by Iohannis in early 2017, when he chaired a cabinet meeting of the Sorin Grindeanu cabinet when rumors appeared that it would pass a decree on the matter.

According to the Romanian Constitution, the president can take party in cabinet meetings which debate problems of national interest such as foreign policy, defense or ensuring public order, or at the behest of the country’s prime minister otherwise. The president will also chair the meetings he takes part in.