Prisoners, pardons and protest

“Thieves, thieves!”

That’s what protesters are shouting in Romania, where the government passed an emergency order late Tuesday decriminalising official misconduct in a country rife with corruption.

The emergency orders will pardon prisoners serving sentences shorter than five years for certain crimes and decriminalise abuses of power that cause less than $47,800 in financial damages.

President Klaus Iohannis declared it “a day of mourning for the rule of law” and vowed to work until his last day in office to rid the country of graft. The president has limited powers and has found more influence in the streets, joining tens of thousands of people who have demonstrated against the decrees in recent weeks.

It is the first major test of Romania’s new ruling coalition led by the Social Democratic Party, which easily won December’s elections promising higher wages and more jobs. Penal reform wasn’t on the agenda.

The party says the measures will ease overcrowded prisons by freeing non-violent criminals including pregnant women and people over 60 years old. But critics say they are designed to help political allies like Liviu Dragnea, the influential Social Democratic Party leader blocked from becoming prime minister after being convicted of electoral fraud and accused of abuse of office. Dragnea has called the president’s protest tantamount to a coup.

High profile supporters of the prison pardons include media magnates accused of corruption and aligned with the Social Democratic Party. Opponents include Romania’s prosecutor general, Supreme Court and National Anticorruption Directorate.

Corruption in Romania is considered some of the worst in Europe, and the European Commission has warned the government against derailing efforts to clean it up. Romania joined the European Union in 2007, 17 years after its communist government collapsed. Since then, the judiciary has struggled with political independence, while corruption has wreaked social, political and economic havoc.

The anti-corruption drive has made an impact, however, as have street protests. More than 1,000 people have been convicted, including ministers, judges, state prosecutors and mayors. And two years ago, then-Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned after a deadly nightclub fire triggered mass demonstrations against corruption.

The Stream looks at Romania’s latest unrest and asks whether the emergency decrees and protests are growing pains or a decline of democracy. 

In this episode of The Stream, we speak with:

Laurentiu Colintineanu @colintineanu
Journalist
colintineanu.ro

Mihai Dragos @MihaiDragos
President, Romania Youth Council
ctr.ro

Radu Magdin @radumagdin
Political Analyst

What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.