House Speaker Liviu Dragnea stated on Thursday that he talked with Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu and, in his view, the impeachment of President Klaus Iohannis must be a serious option. Dragnea said that a decision will be taken on Monday.

Liviu Dragnea accused President Klaus Iohannis of “mocking the Constitution.”

He said he talked with Tariceanu about impeaching the President and the decision will be taken on Monday.

Asked how long he will still wait for the President to say whether he will dismiss the DNA Chief Prosecutor or not, Liviu Dragnea said: “I’m not the one waiting for an answer, because he isn’t supposed to give an answer to me but to the Constitution, a Constitution that he mocks. He is not interested in the law, the Constitution, he is only interested in his own protection, to say it very loud and clear. He was talking yesterday about the dictatorship of the majority. Well, this is exactly the approach of a dictator, because the majority is one of the fundamental pillars of democracy. That is why voting takes place, that is why people go to vote freely in the elections, to choose a majority that would decide, that would legislate and that would oversee – through the Government – the country’s affairs. And the majority bothers him. So, it’s exactly the logic of a dictator – that the majority doesn’t count, the vote doesn’t count, the only thing that counts is what only one man wants, who must have all institutions subordinated to him – Parliament’s, Government’s, the [intelligence] services and absolutely everything that moves, the CCR [Constitutional Court].”

Dragnea said that he discussed the impeachment of President Klaus Iohannis with ALDE leader Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

“I’ve talked with Mr Tariceanu now and I’ve told him that in my view the impeachment of the President must be a serious option, because if we only sit and complain that he isn’t observing the Constitution today, he isn’t observing the Constitution tomorrow, maybe he will send again another presidential aide to threaten some CCR judge. Maybe he sent presidential aides to threaten High Court judges too, nobody can say that’s not true. And if we only sit and take note, then we are not exercising an important prerogative of this body, which is the supreme body in Romania. (…) And Mr Tariceanu said that he agrees and that we must analyse things very seriously the following days and we must take a decision on Monday: yes or no,” Liviu Dragnea added.

PSD leader to SRI Director: Edi my friend, do you agree with SRI officers carrying out criminal probes?

On Thursday, Dragnea had a question for SRI Director Eduard Hellvig, regarding the SRI officers’ involvement in criminal probes and whether he agrees with that.

“In 2016 should people have taken to the streets because the OUG [Government Emergency Ordinance] was issued and the Criminal Code was finished? I heard nothing when the Criminal Code was modified by Ciolos and Pruna via OUG, they legislated so that SRI officers would carry out criminal probes,” Liviu Dragnea said.

“Edi, my good friend, do you agree with SRI officers carrying out criminal probes? I’m waiting for an answer publicly or in writing,” Dragnea added.

The PSD President has recently stated that the SRI Director no longer enjoys his support because he gave in to the deep state.

Dragnea says that he, alongside Tariceanu and Dancila, agreed with the President that they should discuss before paying foreign visits, but Iohannis did not respect the agreement

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea stated on Thursday that he is asking the Standing Bureau of the Lower House to approve his every trip abroad, and the Premier is not obligated to ask the President’s approval to leave the country, but at the same time Klaus Iohannis does not do so. Dragnea said that, before the Dancila Government was sworn in, he, alongside the Premier and the Senate Speaker, agreed with President Klaus Iohannis to consult each other before paying visits abroad but that never happened.

“Before leaving on any trip abroad, I request the approval of the Standing Bureau of the House. If the Standing Bureau approves, I leave; if not, I don’t. The Prime Minister has no kind of obligation to request the President’s [permission] to go somewhere abroad. At the same time, we, the Prime Minister and I, have permanently requested talks with the President in order for some joint decisions to be taken,” Liviu Dragnea said.

He recounted that, before the Dancila Government was sworn in, he, alongside the Premier and the Senate Speaker, agreed with President Klaus Iohannis to consult each other before paying visits abroad but that never happened.

“I had a discussion with President Iohannis, with Mr Tariceanu and the Prime Minister, right before the Government led by Ms Dancila was sworn in, in that famous antechamber. We, Mr Tariceanu and I, asked to form a rule of meeting between us four, in order to agree on, to jointly establish, the strategic directions of development and Romania’s interests, and we all agreed to do so. We tried; you see on television what’s next. The President goes to talk about the multiannual financial framework, when he has no prerogatives in what concerns the budget. How does he commit Romania? That is the question,” Dragnea added.

The leader of Social Democrats claimed that the President should tell the Government and Parliament what he discussed during his official visits so that the institutions “could work accordingly,” because they are now sitting “blind.”

“Because here we are not talking about the Premier’s or someone else’s desire to go to Brussels to pose in photos. Fine, he wants to go because he likes it, very well, but he should hold consultations beforehand, he should know what Romania wants and when he comes back he should say what he discussed [there] so that the Government and Parliament could work accordingly. We are sitting blind. Every time he went on a trip abroad, apart from press releases and the famous photos and possibly video clips we know nothing. We mustn’t necessarily know because we want to, because we are necessarily curious, but we must do… the institutions must do things,” he concluded.