These are the main changes operated on the Law on the Statute of Parliamentarians, a document that has been subject to pressure in almost every legislative term so far. The amendments brought on Wednesday by the Social Liberal majority in the two Parliament Chambers were criticized by the Liberal Democratic opposition.

The parliamentary immunity issue has repeatedly come into the focus of public attention in Romania, after a number of politicians made use of their parliamentary status in order to gain privileges in relation to the judiciary. However, the Senate Speaker, Liberal Crin Antonescu, argues that:

Crin Antonescu: “These dramatic or overstated terms of the recurrent talks about super-immunity, about MPs being above the other citizens, are inappropriate, because nothing of this kind has actually happened.”

While in Bucharest, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjorn Jagland said on Wednesday that Romania’s political situation has become stable and Parliament is currently clarifying the matter of parliamentary immunity. In an interview to Radio Romania, he said it is important for this immunity not to be excessive, and for MPs to be independent from any external influences and to be able to exert their power.

The European official added that Parliament itself must have a mechanism that people can trust. Of course, Jagland also said, MPs have the right to be judged by a tribunal, but on the other hand, as we’ve seen in Slovenia recently, an anti-corruption mechanism disclosed information on the prime minister and the opposition leader, which entailed their resignation. This does not mean that they were tried by a Court, but political leaders must not be subject to any integrity suspicions. Dignitaries should know better than get involved in activities that might stain their parliamentary terms in office, the Council of Europe official also explained.