Yesterday, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis called for a nation-wide referendum on the planned pardoning of thousands of prisoners after massive protests. The bill (sponsored by the Social Democratic Party, which controls the legislature but not the Presidency) has been widely regarded as weakening anti-corruption legislation, while supporters point to over-crowded prisons and the government resources spent on keeping certain offenders in prison. Central to the controversy is the fact that the targets of the legislation appear to be mainly white-collar criminals. The protests come just weeks after the new Prime Minister, Sorin Grindeanu, was sworn into office.
However, no date has been set for a referendum, and the SDP, as far as I can tell, is staying mum on whether they will back a referendum at all. At the same time, some members of the SDP are simultaneously pushing for a referendum on the definition of the "traditional family," presumably an attempt to rebuke LGBT activists.
Anyways, I thought this deserved a thread, since the situation seems to have escalated pretty dramatically in the last 48 hours.
Some sources:
http://www.business-review.eu/news/romania-enters-referendum-frenzy-after-iohannis-dragnea-announce-one-each-129003http://www.jurist.org/paperchase/2017/01/romanian-president-calls-for-referendum-on-prisoner-pardons.phphttps://www.neweurope.eu/article/romania-edges-towards-political-crisis/
