Chairman of the Save Romania Union (USR) Dan Barna said on Wednesday that the move of the Social Democrats' representatives in the Standing Bureau to refer the initiative 'No Convicts in Public Office' to the General Prosecutor's Office is an attempt to block it, which proves "the desperation of Romania's legally embattled lawmakers at the helm of the Chamber of Deputies."
"The sabotage of the 'No Convicts' initiative that garnered the signatures of one million Romanians continues in Parliament. Today my two colleagues who sit on the Standing Bureau witnessed the attempt by Mr. Catalin Radulescu - a convict who was promoted by PSD to quaestor, and by Florin Iordache - the mastermind of Ordinance No. 13, to block the referral of the initiative to the Constitutional Court, as the law requires; their intent is to send the initiative to the General Prosecutor's Office alleging that in the five months during which the initiative was blocked by Liviu Dragnea, (...) the General Secretariat has found inconsistencies in the signatures. This is so strikingly aberrant and absurd that it's hard to comment," said Dan Barna.
The USR leader said that according to the law, the signatures have been confirmed by the mayoralties in each locality where they have been collected and that those that did not meet the legal requirements had been removed.
"The fact that Liviu Dragnea is trying to hijack the powers of the mayoralties, that he also attempts to hijack the competencies that are explicitly set forth for the mayors under the law, ie the right to validate signatures, this hijack attempt in Parliament, as he is trying to send the initiative to the Prosecutor's Office under the fabricated pretext that, without having any relevant competence, they have allegedly found inconsistencies, shows the desperation of Romania's convicts who currently hold the helm of the Chamber of Deputies over the prospect of this initiative, which we are convinced will become law," the USR leader said.
Dan Barna added that the 'No Convicts in Public Office' initiative is USR's "zero priority" during the current parliamentary session and that they will continue "putting pressure on the Chamber of Deputies, on Liviu Dragnea and the Standing Bureau to refer the initiative to the Constitutional Court and then to Parliament, to be voted on.