Romania minister quits amid widespread protests
A Romanian cabinet minister has resigned amid mounting protests against a decision by the government to decriminalize certain graft offences.
The Thursday resignation of Florin Jianu, Romania’s minister of business, trade and entrepreneurship, came in the wake of a mass protest that saw more than 250,000 Romanians take to the streets of the capital, Bucharest, late on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the newly-elected government adopted a decree to decriminalize graft cases totaling less than 38,000 euros (40,000 dollars).
The decision, introduced in an emergency law, bypasses the parliament and is opposed by the country’s president.
Jianu announced his resignation on Facebook, saying it was “ethical to do, not for my professional honesty, my conscience is clean on that front, but for my child.”
“How am I going to look him in the eye and what am I going to tell him over the years?” he wrote. “Am I going to tell him his father was a coward and supported actions he does not believe in, or that he chose to walk away from a story that isn’t his?”
The government decision has also sparked international concern, with the European Commission’s head, Jean-Claude Juncker, warning on Wednesday that Romania’s anti-corruption war “needs to be advanced, not undone.”
Romanians were due to stage more protests in Bucharest and other cities across the country on Thursday.
The emergency decree will take effect in 10 days unless a constitutional court challenge filed by Romania’s top judicial watchdog is accepted.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Thursday that he had also filed a court challenge to the government decision. He urged the government of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to annul the controversial decree.
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