Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bucharest for a second consecutive night, hours after Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned in the wake of a deadly nightclub fire. On the one hand, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) would like to name a new Prime Minister from its own ranks to continue the measures taken by Victor Ponta’s Government.
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At the same time, article 110, which refers to the cession of the mandate, includes (2) which says that the government is destituted the moment the parliament withdraws its trust if the prime-minister is in one of the situations included in article 106 with the exception of revocation or in the impossibility to exercise its attributions more than 45 days.
Victor Ponta quit as Romanian prime minister following mass anti-government protests sparked by a de …
“I have to acknowledge the legitimate anger of the people”.
Crowds demanding anti-corruption reform in the Romanian capital Bucharest have swelled to 30,000 strong on 5 November.
Rallies were also reported in other cities across the country.
“People want a change in the system”, protester Marius Matache told AFP.
The marchers chanted “Ponta resign” and “Killers”, and a few waved the national flag with holes in it – a symbol of the popular revolution 25 years ago that toppled the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Mr. Lohannis further stated that the club tragedy had “affected the nerve of the nation”.
He regretted that “people had to die for the government to step down”.
In announcing his resignation, which automatically triggered the resignation of the entire cabinet, Ponta nominated defence minister Mircea Dusa as interim PM.
Protesters calling for early elections hold banners that read: “Down the Political Mafia” after a rally joined by thousands blocked traffic in University Square in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, November 4, 2015.
The disaster was the final straw in an administration that has been plagued by other corruption scandals that run very, very deep. The club’s three owners have been detained on manslaughter charges for allegedly failing to comply with fire regulations.
The toll from the nightclub fire would have been worse but for the heroism of two men, physicist Claudiu Petre and drummer Adrian Rugina, who went repeatedly into the burning club to rescue trapped revellers, only to die themselves.
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The decision to keep rates unchanged had been expected before the resignation, as planned fiscal loosening next year had prompted the central bank to call for a cautious stance.
