The Social Democratic Party (PSD) has asked President Klaus Iohannis to give up the referendum on justice.

The Social-Democrats believe that the referendum is pointless after the controversial emergency ordinance that aimed to change the Criminal Code was cancelled, reports local Digi24.

President Iohannis announced that he would call for a referendum to ask Romanians if they wanted the fight against corruption to continue, at the beginning of February, days after the PSD-ALDE Government led by Sorin Grindeanu adopted an emergency ordinance that changed some provisions in the Criminal Code and partly decriminalized some corruption offences such as abuse of office.

Between a quarter and a third of the corruption cases investigated by Romania’s National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) are about abuse of office, which is why the ordinance was seen as an important blow to the country’s fight against corruption and a measure that would jeopardize Romania’s progress in the justice sector in the last ten years.

The Government repealed the ordinance on February 5, after the biggest street protests Romania has seen in the last 25 years and pressure from the European Commission. The Parliament then voted a law that rejected the emergency ordinance on justice (OUG 13) last week.

However, while PSD and the Democratic Magyar Union (UDMR) see the President’s referendum as a pointless expense, the National Liberal Party (PNL) thinks that the referendum is important to prevent future attempts by PSD to attack the justice system. The Save Romania Union (USR) also supports the referendum. The total cost of this process would be some RON 250 million (EUR 55 million).

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editor@romania-insider.com