SOURCES Amnesty and pardon. Tudorel Toader would be willing to put his approval on the decree, on the condition that it be initiated by another ministry.

Sources within the government have told G4Media.ro. that Tudorel Toader would be willing to put his seal of legal approval on the decree for amnesty and pardon, with the condition that it will be initiated by a different ministry. According to these sources, one option is to have Toni Grebla, the Secretary General of the government, initiate the decree, but before that’s even possible, the government must first issue a decision to amend the way normative acts can be issued. Toader did not immediately respond to G4Media.ro requests for comment.

G4Media.ro has already written on November 22 about the government’s plan to issue a two-step decree on amnesty and pardon. Step one: amend government decision 561. Step two: the government then decides, in any of the following meeting to simply issue the decree on amnesty and pardon. In any case, one of the ministers is to initiate the act, the interior minister, or perhaps even the government’s secretary general, Toni Grebla.

According to G4Media.ro sources, Toni Grebla is facing at least two problems. On the one hand, he could risk a conflict of interests –even though he was acquitted in the first instance–because he has another trial at the high court where he faces criminal charges for corruption. On the other hand, it is quite difficult to justify what the emergency is that requires the issuance of an emergency decree for amnesty and pardon. According to G4Media.ro sources, a draft of the decree has already been put together by the PSD’s legal people.

On November 28, G4Media.ro has revealed that there are disagreements regarding the details of the decree. Some want the pardoning of everyone with a sentence of up to 5 years of imprisonment, others want to cover sentences of up to ten years, so more can take advantage of the measure. The same disagreements persist for amnesty, which is the pardoning of acts before sentencing.

In the meanwhile, word came out that the decision has been made to eliminate the prison term length, and to focus only on the charges when deciding whom to pardon. This could lead to pardoning of people convicted to up to 14 years prison sentences. The only exclusions would be for acts of violence, rape, murder, drug trafficking, and other serious crimes.

On Thursday, November 29, president Klaus Iohannis had issued an unprecedented warning to the party lead by Liviu Dragnea not to issue an emergency decree on amnesty and pardon, because that would mean a „catastrophe for Romania” and it would throw the country in an unprecedented crisis.

„There are signals from within the PSD that this idea has not been abandoned (a decree for amnesty and pardon –editor’s note.) Such a decree, that involves the amnesty and pardoning of some politicians, would be a catastrophe for Romania. It would be a catastrophe. The issuance of such a decree would cause a political crisis without precedent in Romania”, said Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace.

He reminded everyone that amnesty and pardon had already been the subject of a decree at the beginning of 2017 and that this act has led to massive protests from the Romanian people, who don’t want this to happen.

Dan Barna, the leader of the Save Romania Union(USR), has requested of the president Iohannis on Monday morning, to attend every government meeting from now on until the end of the year to prevent the issuance of such decree. The USR has even offered the president a valid reason to attend the government meetings: the preparations for taking over by Romania of the presidency of the EU Council.

The leaders of the PSD’s second echelon are openly urging the government to issue a decree on amnesty and pardon.

Premier Viorica Dancila has reiterated on Friday that no project exists at the Government of a decree for amnesty and pardon, Agerpres reports.

„I repeat, no such project of amnesty and pardon exists at the Government. We would have peaceful holidays. There isn’t even any time left, the month is coming to a close”, she said at the reception offered by president Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace with the occasion of the National Day of Romania.

Traducerea: Ovidiu Harfas