Romanian PM says neither to resign nor to revoke ordinance

Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu declared on Thursday that he hasn't taken resignation into account, and the government will not revoke the emergency ordinance on amending Criminal Codes.

Grindeanu told media the position at the end of the National Executive Committee meeting of the ruling Social Democratic Party.

Being repeatedly asked if he has thought of resigning, as requested by hundreds of thousands of protesters, the prime minister stressed that the Social Democratic Party was voted by millions.

Referring to the emergency ordinance to change the Criminal Codes which was approved two days ago, Grindeanu said that "We are rightfully going ahead with it."

President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday said that the solutions to the current crisis must come from politicians, adding that next week he will invite people to discussions at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

"Solutions cannot come from the street, solutions must come from politicians," the head of state stressed.

Meanwhile, anti-government protests continued for the third evening in the capital of Bucharest and major cities throughout the country.

The Romanian government on Tuesday adopted an emergency ordinance on amending Criminal Codes, redefining, and partially decriminalizing abuse of office offenses.

After the ordinance was adopted, Justice Minister Florin Iordache said that abuse of office was to be considered a crime only if the damages exceeded 200,000 lei (47,463 U.S. dollars).

However, the opposition complained that the changes to the criminal law would likely prevent some politicians charged with crimes from being punished.

 source: Xinhua