Romania: Government defies calls to quit despite mass rallies
February 6, 2017
Protesters vow to keep pressuring Romanian government, but ruling coalition head says prime minister has full support.
Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu insists that he will not resign [Stoyan Nenov/Reuters]
Romania’s government has rejected calls to resign after mass nationwide protests forced it to scrap a controversial decree that would have decriminalised some corruption offences.
Following the largest protests since the fall of communism in 1989, the Social Democrat-led government on Sunday rescinded the decree, which would have shielded dozens of politicians from prosecution.
But even after the government’s embarrassing u-turn, an estimated 500,000 protesters all over the country took to the streets later on Sunday chanting “We don’t believe you, we won’t give up”.
The rallies were the biggest in the country since the fall of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, and some said they will continue protesting until the government resigns.
‘No reason to resign’
But Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the ruling centre-left coalition and the chief target of the protesters’ ire, said on Monday the government will not resign, sounding a defiant note during a meeting of senior party officials on Monday.
