Revolutionaries’ certificates spark new controversies

Several hundred revolutionaries lodged a protest in Victoriei Square on Monday against the Government emergency ordinance binding them to get new certificates that certify their revolutionary’s status. The emergency ordinance was approved at the end of 2014. The protest lasted a few hours, but protesters announced they would get back in front of the Government HQs on Tuesday.

More precisely, the revolutionaries are discontent that they will be compelled to get new certificates to certify their “determinant part” in the 1989 Revolution in order to keep receiving their allowances.

Some of the revolutionaries entered the Government building for talks, asking for the ordinance’s revocation. They even threatened to go on hunger strike if they did not personally talk to the prime minister.

The protesters did not manage to reach to PM Victor Ponta, being invited to talks with the Delegate Minister for Social Dialogue, Liviu Pop, however they obtained promises for clearing things out both from PM Ponta and minister Pop.

Thus, Gov’t sources told Mediafax that premier Ponta asked his Control Body to check on the State Secretariat for Revolutionaries’ activity since 1990, mainly on the way that the revolutionary certificates have been granted for the past 25 years. “The idea is to see who got these certificates and what kind of certificates have been granted for all these 25 years,” the quoted sources revealed.

The prime minister’s move seemed to have pleased the revolutionaries, as one of their representatives, present at the Gov’t negotiations, Mihai Orbulescu told Mediafax that their protest registered a first victory due to the fact the premier sent his Control Body to probe into the certificates’ granting process. Orbulescu said they have also asked for this investigation, pointing to a lot of irregularities at the State Secretariat and accusing the chief of the revolutionaries’ body of granting these certificates to impostors.

In his turn, delegate minister Liviu Pop invited the revolutionaries’ representatives for talks also on Tuesday, saying that the emergency ordinance’ s withdrawal is not possible but it could be amended in Parliament.