Senate President Florin Citu said on Thursday, in a statement to the press at the Palace of Parliament, that the draft on the COVID green certificate must be in agreement with the constitutional provisions, so that it shouldn’t get challenged with the Constitutional Court (CCR), stimulate the vaccination campaign and keep the economy open.
Citu pointed out that the draft must be constitutional, otherwise it risks being challenged by the Ombudsman with the CCR.
He said the final draft from the Government was expected to be analysed.
HealthMin Rafila: Green COVID certificate must pass Parliament, otherwise we will have a problem
The Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, stated on Tuesday evening that the draft normative act regarding the green COVID certificate “must pass” Parliament, because otherwise “we will all have a problem.”
“The green certificate has to pass, because we need to have an instrument at our disposal, in case we are hit by a new wave of the pandemic. If such pandemic wave does not appear, then we will only have a legal framework, that’s all (…) But if the green certificate does not pass then we will all have a problem,” said the Minister of Health, after attending the meeting of the joint budget-finance committees, where they issued an opinion on the 2022 budget of the Ministry of Health.
Voting for this measure, he said, “is the responsibility of this coalition.”
“The Social Democratic Party (PSD) has done its duty, it has come up with this draft. We are willing to support it in all respects. This is how things are,” Rafila added.
Asked if he had the support of the PSD on this subject, he answered: “Absolutely.”
At the same time, the Minister underscored that, regarding the obligation by law to present the green certificate, “PSD has no way to waste time, since it has made this proposal.”
Citu: PNL supports any COVID certificate bill that increases vaccination rate
Senate President Florin Citu, National Liberal Party (PNL) leader, says the Liberals support any bill to introduce a mandatory COVID certificate in the workplace to increase the vaccination rate and want it debated and voted on in Parliament, stressing that the coalition currently has a 70% majority in the Legislature.
Asked how he comments on the option for the current Minister of Health, Alexandru Rafila, to resign, if the initiative on the COVID certificate he announced is not taken by the Government, Citu said that the resignation is a unilateral act, not wanting to comment.
“Our position is very clear, a bill is coming to the Romanian Parliament, we are debating it and passing it. We support any draft of the COVID certificate that will increase the vaccination rate,” Florin Citu said at Parliament on Wednesday.
Regarding the fact that the Minister of Health claims that only by assuming the responsibility of the Government this bill could be passed, considering that it would be necessary to implement it as soon as possible, Citu said: “Today in the Romanian Parliament we have 70%, this governing coalition”.
“We are passing Romania’s budget, I think in two days. I don’t think it is a great effort to pass such an important bill for Romanians and Romanians should see the debate in Parliament, this is my point of view and that of PNL, to have a bill that comes to Romania’s Parliament. I think it can be improved, there are specialists in the Romanian Parliament, I don’t think there is anyone who can say that he holds the truth,” said Citu.
Regarding the assumption of responsibility by the Government on a bill regarding the COVID certificate, he pointed out that it is “the decision of the prime minister”.
He pointed out that there is no problem on the part of the PNL in voting on a draft COVID certificate in Parliament, when asked if there are any signs that PNL or Social Democratic Party (PSD) MPs would not vote in such an initiative.
Asked how he sees the timetable for the adoption of the bill in Parliament by the end of the year, Citu said: “We can talk about a timetable when we have a bill”.
He also stated that the coalition did not discuss the assumption of responsibility for this bill.
Compiled from Agerpres
