PM Ciolos: Gov't undertakes to hold elections unbiasedly, under Parliament-approved legislation

The Government has undertaken to hold elections unbiasedly and do so under legislation sanctioned by Parliament, Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos told a PM Question Time at the Chamber of Deputies on Monday.

"The government I am heading has undertaken to hold elections unbiasedly, after the previous governments were repeatedly accused of faulty elections. The Government will do so under the legislation sanctioned by Parliament. We believe Parliament is the venue for debates to modify election legislation. We have held consultations with the political parties. In the end, an emergency ordinance modifying the legislation in force or pledging responsibility are both instruments that bring the Government before Parliament, which means a majority will settle the things. In a democratic system, the Government cannot interfere to modify legislation without Parliament's consent," said Ciolos.

He added that from his conversation with the parties it did not transpire a firm position on two-round local elections.

"Different opinions were voiced about the timeliness of modifying the legislation now. Discussion here should focus on those who want the legislation changed and the others - whether or not modifying the legislation now is opportune - because the majority of the parties I talked with did not impress me as having staunch opinions against two-round local elections. The party or parties that want to modify the legislation now have to own the debate and conduct it as I am doing now with the ongoing debate, instead of blaming the Government for not wanting to use instruments to modify legislation, a system that some time ago the same parties would reject when the previous governments would use," said Ciolos.

According to him, preparing this year's elections is a priority with the Government.

"Preparing the local end general elections is one of the main priorities with the Government under the ongoing term. This year's elections come at a time when the society has provided clear signals it wants the quality of the political class changed. For the quality to increase, the political parties have to make an effort to come up with representatives that can meet the expectations of the voters; equally important is the election system that should allow for filtering the candidates in the electoral races. The decision on the local elections was made one year ago by Parliament," said Ciolos.

Early last week, the group of the National Liberal Party (PNL) MPs asked for a political debate on Romania's electoral legislation and securing better representation of the citizens, in the presence of the prime minister. AGERPRES

Abonează-te pentru experiența stiripesurse.ro Premium!