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First was the business of markets. The government’s decision to temporarily suspend closed markets is certainly painful, but no action to combat the pandemic attracts applause. Therefore, it is not the negative effects of these decisions that are in question, they will always exist, but to what extent they are judicious in relation to the danger they seek to mitigate.
But PSD is far from any logical approach. As it has shown since March – even through its affiliate in the ICR – this party has always sought to thwart an effective fight against the pandemic, ordering its arguments not according to the principle “you must do what the experts say is necessary” according to the principle “nothing that the Government proposes is good, whatever the specialists say, including those hired by the PSD.” Because I don’t know that Alexandru Rafila criticized, for example, the closure of the window frames markets, if I’m not mistaken, he even participated in making this decision.
Where there was good faith and the mayors were really interested in lessening the impact of this measure, solutions were found. However, members of the PSD immediately speculated on the discontent of the marketers and the Chamber of Deputies “adopted an amendment” by which it was prohibited to close the markets of enclosures during the alert state. All the press wrote: “approved an amendment.” Amendment to what?
The answer to this question proves that PSD sold traders and agricultural producers a simple illusion, only good to proclaim in the electoral campaign, and that’s it. Because the amendment in question was not incorporated into the legislation governing the management of the pandemic. No. They pulled a law that had something to do with agriculture out of the drawers of Parliament and slipped the amendment there. It is a law that approves an emergency ordinance (78/2019) on some measures in the field of agriculture, adopted by the Orban Government in December 2019, when the first rumors about Covid-19 had just appeared. They attached the amendment in question to this law, sent the act for promulgation and started the propaganda machine: we, PSD, saved the agricultural slaughter. They didn’t really save anything.
PSD charlatanism is found in the following factual situation: Ordinance 78/2019 was approved by the Senate in February 2020 without any modification. Two amendments strictly related to the content of the ordinance were brought to the Chamber of Deputies, after which PSD pasted, without having any relation to the content of the ordinance, the article on markets. It follows that the “market amendment” was not discussed by the Senate, but was not even seen by the Upper House. Which means that the law thus approved violates the principle of bicameralism.
In accordance with this principle, the deciding Chamber may even adopt a solution contrary to that adopted by the First Chamber, but in no case may it adopt a solution that the First Chamber was unaware of. Therefore, the law contains a serious defect of unconstitutionality and I have no doubt that the Government or the President will attack it in the ICR precisely to defend their policies to combat the pandemic. And the CCR, if it has not gone completely crazy, will reject it, so the modification of the markets will not take effect too soon.
I don’t think PSD doesn’t know these things, how many legal geniuses there are in this party. But what was at stake was not that the law came into force, but that it be announced in the electoral campaign. And agricultural producers, traders, and even the Market Mafia should take note of this: PSD has made fun of you all.
The most recent parliamentary mess (because I don’t think it is the last) produced by the PSD took place on Wednesday in the Senate. On Tuesday night, it was agreed between all the parties: the next day there will be a mixed vote, in the sense that the senators from Bucharest will appear physically to vote and those from the province will vote online. At stake were two important and controversial laws: the postponement of the elections (desired by PSD and satellites) and the initiative “There are no criminals in public office” (desired by USR and PNL). The first needed an absolute majority, half plus one of all senators, and the second two thirds, because it is a law that reforms the Constitution. The first was to go to the Chamber of Deputies, the other was for the final vote.
On Wednesday morning, the majority of PSD changed direction. Without any justification, they demanded that the vote be carried out exclusively physically, knowing that many Opposition senators are in the territory, on an electoral campaign. The PSD members were all present, because they knew in advance what would be decided in the last hundred meters. Under such conditions, USR and PNL found that the quorum for “No Penalties” could not be reached, so they boycotted the meeting, so even the PSD could not vote on the law to postpone the elections, which has no possibility to be adopted at the time by the Chamber of Deputies.
At first glance, the gallery would shout: “Oh, how smart the PSD members are, how well they master parliamentary procedures and how stupid others are, who don’t know how to promote their initiatives.” It’s not like that. It’s very easy to appear smart when not only are you participating in the game, but you also have the tools to change its rules while the game is in full swing. That way any fool can win any game.
In this story, nothing surprises me except, perhaps, Robert Cazanciuc, but very little.
