Chamber of Deputies Speaker Liviu Dragnea and Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu are charged of confiscating the state institutions.
Save Romania Union (USR) will file a criminal complaint against the Parliament Speakers, following the joint statement released on Tuesday as a reply from the Parliament to the Department of State message, realitatea.net informs.
The PNL, USR and PMP deputies have requested, on Wednesday, in the Chamber of Deputies plenum, the resignation of Liviu Dragnea and delimited themselves from the statement released on Tuesday by the two speakers of Parliament.
PNL has also requested a joint chambers session to adopt a statement regarding the US Department of State position, by which to declare that the statement released on Tuesday by the two parliament speakers is null and void.
Later, the PNL and USR parliamentary groups have left the Senate sitting, leaving the session without quorum.
“What Mr. Dragnea and Mr. Tariceanu did is a violation of their attributions. According to article 13, position 23rd of the Regulation on joint activities, only the Parliament can make such decisions, political statements can be adopted following a joint decision of the two chambers. Obviously, the two have violated their attributions. Mr. Dragnea has no means to adopt decisions, to support and communicate them to Romania’s strategic partners,” USR Deputy Antal Arpad said on Wednesday.
USR has released a communiqué reading that it refuses to accept that the Parliament “is dragged into a struggle to defend the personal interests of Mr. Dragnea and Tariceanu.”
“It is unacceptable that Liviu Dragnea and Calin Popescu Tariceanu issue official communiqués on behalf of the Romanian Parliament to respond to the Department of State communiqué regarding the laws of justice. If the two PSD-ALDE leaders want to reply to Romania’s strategic partners, they are free to express their individual political positions on their behalf. USR is protesting against the way by which the two politicians facing criminal charges use their official positions to solve their personal issues with justice and the disputes with foreign partners, who call for observing the rule of law, a position strongly supported by USR. By attempting to forge an obedient and subordinated justice, PSD-ALDE risks taking Romania out of the trans-Atlantic and European partnerships,” the USR release reads.
USR Chairman Dan Barna stressed that the two confuse Parliament with their political parties. “They should resign as speakers of the two Parliament chambers, following the strong signals sent by Romania’s strategic partners regarding the rule of law and justice,” Barna said.
USR says Dragnea and Tariceanu have confirmed that “they have seized the state institutions and use them for personal purposes.”
PNL requests explanations from Dragnea
The National Liberal Party (PNL) has requested on Wednesday explanations from Liviu Dragnea regarding “the reasons for which he endangers Romania’s image and affects the fight against corruption,” a request rejected by the parliamentary majority – 55 votes ‘for’ and 77 ‘against’.
“We request explanations (…) on the reasons for which a 20-year old partnership, with obvious advantages for the security and prosperity of Romanian citizens, is put at risk. Mr. Dragnea should come and tell us the reasons for which he discredits the institution and the MPs in good faith,” PNL deputies leader, Raluca Turcan, said.
The Chamber Speaker, Liviu Dragnea and Senate Speaker, Calin Popescu Tariceanu released a joint statement on Tuesday as a reply to the Department of State message, saying that the Romanian Parliament has been unpleasantly surprised by their message and that debates, decisions and votes in the Parliament take place in the name of the sovereignty of the people and cannot be object of any pressure.
A US Department of State release, posted on the official website on Monday was a tough warning regarding the fight against corruption and judicial independence.
“The United States notes with concern that the Parliament of Romania is considering legislation that could undermine the fight against corruption and weaken judicial independence in Romania. This legislation, which was originally proposed by the Ministry of Justice, threatens the progress Romania has made in recent years to build strong judicial institutions shielded from political interference. We urge the Parliament of Romania to reject proposals that weaken the rule of law and endanger the fight against corruption,” the release, reads.