Iohannis: Referendum to amend constitution better be organised with presidential election

The referendum on amending the constitution should be organised with the first or second round of the presidential elections, President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday. 

Asked at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace when it would be good for a referendum to amend the constitution to be held, Iohannis said: "In my opinion, the referendum should be organised either with the first round of presidential election or with the run-off." 

He added that there is no recommendation from the Venice Commission to hold another election with the presidential election. 

"Of course, some politicians who have boycotted this referendum were quick to tell us that there is a recommendation from the Venice Commission not to organise another plebiscite at the same time with the elections. I would like to inform the public that such recommendation does not exist. There is no recommendation from the Venice Commission to avoid overlapping. So we have no problem organising the referendum with the presidential election. As a footnote it is very curious that some politicians who are very dissatisfied that GRECO and the Venice Commission lecture them use the argument that the Venice Commission has told us not to hold a referendum and an election simultaneously. That is a sad example of duplicity with Romanian politicians," said Iohannis.