President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday at the Cotroceni Palace, that Romania is ready to move to a new stage of democracy.
We set off from the goals we had for Romania. Reform of political institutions is a priority of my mandate. For 25 years we have gone through stage that meant creating democratic institutions, the end of transition, accumulation of experience. But also a set of experiments in the field. Successful or not. I think it's time to move on to a new phase of Romanian democracy. From my point of view, it should mean a system reset and increased public confidence in democratic institutions. Thus, I am considering three action paths:
1. Participation - ensuring that all Romanians vote, including in particular those in the diaspora, but also to encourage political participation by engaging in a new legislation of political parties. We need to bring people closer to politics, we have two Romanian countries - one of the politicians and one of the Romanians.
2. Integrity – as a working method, that requires transparency and fairness, including the funding of parties and of election campaigns. If we want people to trust us, we must operate transparently.
3. Sustainability - a legislative framework to ensure not only legitimacy, but also effectiveness in representing the people. I think we can come up with laws packages to last for more than election cycle and build very solid institutions. In this way we can have long-term electoral competition based rather on discussions and solutions, not confrontation for the sake of confrontation.
On the political parties:
Legislation of political parties - funding of parties and campaigns. I’ve heard the parties opinions on the unfortunate ordinance 55, on the migration of local elected officials. Also, an important theme was the accelerating of procedures for enforcement of arrest declarations.
I proposed a concrete timetable by the end of the first parliamentary session we agreed to have a legislative solution to the Romanian Diaspora vote, legislation on local and parliamentary elections, political parties and the law on financing of political parties and election campaigns.
The timely completion of these projects is a commitment of the parties not related to me, the President, but before voters who expect these solutions.
On the CVM report:
The second big topic is the CVM report released today. It is a rather positive one.
Romania's progress is certainly important and part of a growing trend. We need to accelerate efforts to ensure the fight against corruption, primarily for Romanian citizens.
We took note of the critical remarks of the EU. It is the duty of institutions and politicians to take account of these findings, to remove the question marks hanging over the Parliament and the political class. Political will must be constantly proven by facts and in relation to commitments.
I took note of the EC encouragements on the reform process.
Guaranteeing the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the support against corruption are major objectives of my mandate.