Romanian government under pressure as 500,000 protest

[Nutso]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/02/r ... 54077.html

An estimated 500,000 protesters rallied in Romania's capital, Bucharest, following a government climbdown over a contentious corruption decree in the face of week-long mass demonstrations.

Fulfilling a promise made late on Saturday, the government announced on Sunday it had approved the withdrawal of controversial executive order that would have decriminalised certain grant offences and protected politicians from prosecution.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu had originally approved the ordinance late on Tuesday, with no input from the country's parliament, sparking the biggest demonstrations in the country in decades.

After repealing the decree, Grindeanu asked the justice minister to prepare a draft law to be sent to parliament for debate and approval.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party has a parliamentary majority with a junior partner. President Klaus Iohannis, who is expected to speak later on Sunday, then needs to sign off on the legislation.

Yet, the announcement did not stop demonstrators from gathering for a sixth consecutive day, as massive crowds poured into Bucharest's Victory Square to protest against what they deem an alarming retreat in the country's fight against corruption.

"It has gone, the amendments are history, but the protesters are still not trusting the prime minister," Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from the capital, Bucharest, said.

[Bryan Moore]

Typically Eastern European protests and government unrest ends well for everyone involved.

[Teaos]

God what a law.

I would love to hear the justification for that.

[Mikey]

God what a law.

I would love to hear the justification for that.

Simple - "we like money, no matter how illegitimate the source, and don't want to get in trouble for accepting it." Seems pretty clear-cut to me.