The Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the Young People's Party are on parliamentary strike

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the Young People's Party are on parliamentary strike in protest against the Constitutional Court's decision not to accept Calin Georgescu's candidacy in May's presidential elections. The decision of the two parties is criticized both by representatives of the ruling party and colleagues from the opposition.

Alina Stanuta has details: "The AUR senators and deputies will be present in Parliament, but will not take part in the final voting sessions in the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

Dan Tanasa, AUR spokesman: "The Alliance for the Union of Romanians chooses to protest in a constitutional way through a parliamentary strike. This strike means that AUR parliamentarians will be present at work, will hold hearings, conferences, but we refuse to participate in plenary sessions and meetings of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate committees."

The Young People's Party is also joining this parliamentary protest. SOS Romania president Diana Sosoaca, also from the opposition, criticized the two parties.

Diana Sosoaca: "Being in the opposition does not mean withdrawing and going on strike, it means finding legal, constitutional solutions in order to be able to contribute to changing Romania for the better and to counter these dictatorial actions of the Constitutional Court and the Central Electoral Bureau."

The leader of the group of PNL MPs, Gabriel Andronache, also criticizes the absence of the AUR and POT MPs from the Parliament's work.

Gabriel Andronache: "Please note that two parliamentary groups are entirely absent from the plenary, from the final vote. After having patented the type of MP who throws stones at gendarmes, they are now attempting to skip in the form of a parliamentary strike."

The AUR and POT parliamentary groups have 120 members out of a total of 464 senators and deputies."

Translated by: Radu Matei