Romanians Continued Protests Against Corruption

Hundreds of Romanians went yesterday to a new protest in the capital Bucharest, Darik radio reported, citing AP.

They want to put pressure on the government to abandon the planned restructuring of the justice system. In their view, proposals for changes in the law will make it difficult to punish corrupted high-level officials. Demonstrators waved flags at government offices and chanted "Resignation!" and "Justice, not corruption".

Senior members of the ruling coalition of left-wing parties, including the leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea, are being investigated for corruption. Dragnea can not be prime minister because in 2016 he was convicted of electoral fraud. His allies claim that prosecution is politically motivated.

At the same time, SDP Secretary General Kodrin Stefanescu said the party will hold counter-protests in Bucharest and other cities this week against what he calls the "parallel state." With this expression, the party and its allies call the justice system and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, who is an ally of the opposition.

On Saturday, several protesters clashed with the police on Victory Square, where demonstrations are taking place regularly since January. The cause of the tension was the plans of Bucharest's mayor Gabriela Firea to use the Christmas marketplace. The demonstrators dismantled the skeleton and fences, and even Prime Minister Mihai Tudose criticized the Mayor's plans, a senior member of the SDP. Eventually she said she would move the Christmas bazaar to another place.