Thousands of Romanians continue protesting against gov’t

BUCHAREST – Agence France-Presse

Tens of thousands of Romanians braved the cold and returned to the streets in protest on Sunday, calling on the government to resign as they accused it of attempting to water down anti-corruption laws.

“Thieves! Resign!” chanted protesters in front of the seat of government in Bucharest, as they used the torches from their mobile phones to form a giant Romanian flag.

Up to 50,000 protesters took part in the Bucharest march, according to Romanian media reports. The authorities did not give any estimate of their own.

Responding to a call on social media, the protesters held up their mobile phone torches against colored pieces of paper, lighting up the cold night air with the blue, yellow and red of the national flag.

“Resist,” read a huge slogan projected onto a nearby building.

Some protesters in the crowd held up banners with the message “Stop corruption! Fighting for democracy.” 
“We want to give the government a red card,” one of the protesters, 33-year-old businessman Adrian Tofan, told AFP in Bucharest.

Meanwhile, up to 30,000 more took to the streets in other major cities, calling on the government to stand down. 

Among them were some 10,000 protesters in Cluj, Transylvania’s main city, 4,000 in Timisoara in the west, and 5,000 in the central city of Sibiu.

The Feb. 12 demonstrations, the 13th consecutive day of protests against the government, took place despite the administration backing down over a planned controversial decree which would have made abuse of power a crime punishable by jail only if the sums involved exceeded 200,000 lei (44,000 euros, $47,500).

The demonstrations, the largest since the ousting and summary execution of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, have continued despite the resignation last week of Justice Minister Florin Iordache.

“The justice minister’s resignation isn’t enough after what they tried to do,” said Tofan, the protester.
Another demonstrator also said he had completely lost faith in the government.

“We don’t trust this government, we want early elections,” said Andreea Moldovan, a doctor who had made a 170-kilometre (105-mile) journey to Bucharest, especially for the protest.

Romania joined the European Union in 2007 and Brussels has long taken Bucharest to task over slow progress dealing with corruption and organized crime.