The Social Democratic Party (PSD) submitted to the Senate a draft law, initiated by party president Marcel Ciolacu and the leader of the PSD deputies Alfred Simonis, proposing that January 6 (the Epiphany Day) and January 7 (the celebration of Saint John) be declared non-working public holidays.

The initiators specify that in Romania, according to the official data provided by the last census of 2011, 16,307,004 Romanian citizens are Orthodox Christians, representing 86.45% of the total declared population of the country, Economica.net reported.

"For Orthodox Christians, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, celebrated annually on January 6, is also celebrated by the Roman Catholic, Greek Catholic and Pentecostal believers, who, according to the same census, amount to 7.34% of Romania's population. The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord (Epiphany) or "Boboteaza", as it is also called in popular terms, is also unique in that, on this day, most Orthodox believers are present at the church to receive Holy Communion; in the Orthodox tradition", the Social Democrats explained in substantiation document drafted along with the law.

This year, according to the Labor Code, there are 15 public holidays in Romania. The next ones are November 30 (Wednesday) - St. Andrew’s Day and December 1 (Thursday) - the National Day of Romania.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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