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President Klaus Iohannis stated on Tuesday that he cannot give up the independence of justice and the rule of law, arguing that he won't question these two aspects in a discussion with politicians who "want to question precisely these things."
In a dialogue with the young winners of the Civic Avengers competition part of the Once Upon a Time in Romania project of Initiative Romania, the head of state was asked: "Have you thought about changing the parliamentary republic form into a presidential republic, because, this way, you would have greater power to make changes?"
"I thought about it and I am sure that many thought about it. The architecture of our state is given by the Constitution - this is how the group that wrote the Constitution thought. Now, after some amendments were made and I bring to mind that these differences [between the Cotroceni Presidential Palace and the Victoria Palace] emerged after the president's term in office changed, certainly people ask questions - why can't we be on the same page. In practice, it can be seen that, by declaring elections, the Romanian voter prefers to have some balance which, unfortunately, often leads to divergences, as we have now. But if I would be willing to talk without emotion and without a major issue arising about things that fall under the fiscal or economic policy or about what we do with schools, I am not at all willing to compromise when talking about the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Romania. Here, I have a very clear opinion - we need an independent justice, it is mandatory and we want a rule of law in Romania. We want to be in Europe, I am not willing at all to question these things in a discussion with politicians who, and you certainly noticed that, want to question precisely these things. This is not possible and then, naturally, we have these divergences of opinions and, in the end, the voter should say which is the version that he/she wants. I am convinced that he/she wants the version described by me, at least a large majority," the head of state mentioned.
He added that the majority of Romanians want to be European, to be able to move, to have a country that has success, where jobs are increasingly good, where investors, both Romanians and foreigners are welcomed with open arms, "not with totally absurd criticisms, where justice is not only legal, but also fair." "These are things that everybody wants, at least all those who I have talked to," the President stated.
AGERPRES .
