The Government will go to Parliament for the reshuffle, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), said on Wednesday evening.
“I saw that there have been voices in the public sphere saying that the CCR [Constitutional Court of Romania] compels us to go to Parliament. I have not seen this stated by the Constitutional Court. But, of course, as I have mentioned, we will go to Parliament not when others tell us, but when we consider it appropriate, in the 45 days that we have at our disposal. (…) The conclusion of the National Executive Committee was that we will go to Parliament for the reshuffle. We have not set the date yet, but we will not wait long. We are waiting for the censure motion. It is the Opposition’s attribute to submit a censure motion. I will go and I am convinced that there will be a lot of responsible people who will not vote the motion,” Viorica Dancila said at the end of the PSD National Executive Committee meeting.
Even if reshuffle is rejected, Government will still not fall
SocDem leader on Wednesday evening said that, in case the Government reshuffle gets rejected by Parliament, the Government will still not fall, with the procedure to be resumed with a new proposal for reshuffle.
“Let’s suppose that the President doesn’t observe the decision of the Constitutional Court. Then, the opposition will submit a censure motion. This is an instrument of the opposition and it’s the opposition’s right to use it. I cannot accuse the opposition for submitting a motion. But the motion won’t pass and we will be back in Parliament with the reshuffle. On the contrary, if the reshuffle does pass, then we will have a complete cabinet and we will continue to govern with the complete cabinet. If the reshuffle doesn’t pass, then the Government will still not fall. We will propose a new reshuffle and we will continue with this procedure. So I wonder: who loses then? For I don’t care if I lose, but I do care that it’s the citizen who loses,” Dancila told Antena 3 private television broadcaster.
I would like that the Justice Ministry be headed by an independent person, after Birchall was rekoked as Minister
Dancila said on Wednesday, after Ana Birchall was revoked as Justice Minister, according to the Constitutional Court (CCR) decision, that she would like this ministry to be headed by an independent person.
“As you know, according to the Constitutional Court decision, Mrs Birchall was revoked as Justice Minister,” Dancila said at the end of the PSD’s National Executive Committee meeting, asked if Birchall still had chances to stay at the helm of the Justice Ministry.
Asked if she wanted an independent minister for Justice, Dancila replied in the positive: “I would like to have an independent in Justice. As you know, I proposed Mrs Girbovan, as I thought and I believe Justice must be independent and there must be a magistrate who understands the issues, who has relations with all magistrates’ associations. I haven’t got a name yet, but we’ll analyse this,” the PM said.
She reiterated that the Government would not get involved in Justice.
“I said what we promised since the beginning. Romania’s Government does not wish to get involved in Justice. I was asked and it was voted in the referendum not to issue emergency ordinances on Justice anymore, therefore we do not issue any emergency ordinance on Justice. Moreover, I believe all the matters related to Justice must be solved by magistrates. They are the most capable, they must find consensus and the decisions must come following the consensus reached by magistrates,” the Prime Minister mentioned, when asked if the Special Section for investigating crimes in Justice should be disestablished.
We are not endorsing a mandate for Laura Codruta Kovesi as European prosecutor-in-chief
The Government doesn’t endorse a mandate for Laura Codruta Kovesi as European prosecutor-in-chief, Prime Minister Viorica Dancila stated on Wednesday.
“I’ve said and I repeat this thing. I don’t endorse, we don’t endorse a mandate for Laura Codruta Kovesi. We are not endorsing this mandate because it seems to me a natural approach, when there are certain accusations, when there are suspicions over any person, regardless of the office that one holds or the office which one is running for, [that person] has to clarify these things and then take over this position. Therefore, I maintain the standpoint that I’ve had so far,” PM Dancila stated after the meeting of the Social Democratic Party’s (PSD) National Executive Committee (CExN), when asked how Romania’s Ambassador to the EU Luminita Odobescu will vote in the Council of the European Union in respect to the appointment of Laura Codruta Kovesi as European prosecutor-in-chief.
In relation to the same topic, the PM denied the pieces of information released in the public space according to which an agreement was reached with the Renew Europe group so that Rovana Plumb be endorsed as European Commissioner in exchange of the support for the installation of Laura Codruta Kovesi as European Chief Prosecutor.
When asked in respect to the abovementioned aspect, Prime Minister mentioned that Luminita Odobescu’s vote will be one against Kovesi’s appointment: “I’ve said ‘against’,” Dancila underscored.
