USR President, Catalin Drula, stated on Tuesday evening that the right to protest for transporters and farmers cannot be denied, even if there are technical arguments against approving their current request.
When asked about Nicusor Dan’s refusal to approve the protest in Bucharest, Catalin Drula responded that the Capital City Hall and those seeking the right to protest can find a solution to ensure that legal criteria are met.
Regarding the technical aspects, allow me not to express an opinion. I assume the City Hall has the specialists it needs. Regarding the political part – as he also declared – the legal and constitutional right to protest must be approved. I understand that he wants to approve it in a modified form. (…) I had understood that there was also an issue related to the adjacent boulevards. There are hospitals. For example, Grigore Alexandrescu Hospital; access must be kept clear, but these are technical details. If I were the mayor, I would approve this protest. (…) I understand from the statements of the general mayor, I’ve seen the statements in the public space, where he says: ‘I have nothing against the right to protest of these people. The way it was requested does not allow the observance of certain legal safety criteria,’ Drula stated for Digi 24.
According to the USR leader, the protection of party clientele and tax increases have led to significant societal frustration, resulting in an outburst.
A protest is not a pharmacy, to control who comes and who doesn’t. Especially when there is such dissatisfaction – we see it in sociological research. Four out of five Romanians believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. And this has not been the case just yesterday; these values started to rise after the takeover of the government by PSD and PNL. (…) The protest is heterogeneous in nature, but people don’t go voluntarily or because they have nothing else to do at home. They go out of dissatisfaction, frustration, and legitimate anger, in our opinion, because everything has been done to protect the PSD and PNL party clientele in recent years. Entrepreneurs, small business owners have been set aside, blamed, treated as tax evaders. The entire discourse of this government has been that Romanians do not pay enough taxes, we need to put our hands in their pockets, increase their taxes, argued Catalin Drula.
He stated that the protest continues because there is a lot of justified dissatisfaction in society, and the last two years of governance have plunged the economy into a chasm with a budget deficit and loans.
Moreover, there is a lot of defiance in this government’s act. If for the special ones, for the privileged, for those who receive the thirteenth salary, for those who receive dizzying pensions after retiring at 50, nothing can be done in terms of touching those privileges – as this PSD-PNL government tells us – here for those who wake up early in the morning, work, and contribute to the state budget, higher taxes can be introduced from one month to the next. Don’t forget that Marcel Ciolacu took responsibility for a package of measures elaborated by the PNL Finance Minister, with entry into force the following month. In October, this responsibility was assumed in Parliament, and in November, those in agriculture, the food industry, construction, and IT received increased donations, Catalin Drula added.
The general mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, announced on Tuesday that he had rejected the protest request from transporters and farmers because it is unreasonable.
In a post on his Facebook page, the mayor specified that they explicitly requested the full occupation from Friday to Monday of Victory Square and adjacent streets, for 15,000 vehicles and machinery.
“I rejected the protest request from transporters and farmers because it is unreasonable. They explicitly requested the full occupation from Friday to Monday of Victory Square and adjacent streets, for 15,000 vehicles and machinery. Obviously, all transportation would have been blocked in Bucharest. The largest authorised protest with cars took place in 2017. The 3,800 cars were then arranged in Victory Square and along Kiseleff Boulevard, but without blocking traffic. The right to protest is enshrined in the law, but without disrupting the normal functioning of public roads or public transport. We will approve any protest request that respects the law, as we have done so far,” emphasised the general mayor.
Editor: Andreea Gudin
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