Romania leader asks for govt agenda, fearing graft amnesty

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romania’s president wants to be sent the government agenda in advance amid concerns it will pass an amnesty for people imprisoned on corruption charges.

President Klaus Iohannis Monday asked Premier Viorica Dancila to send him the details 24 hours before government meetings.

The move came after Social Democratic Party chief Liviu Dragnea on Sunday asked for an amnesty for “thousands of people” he claims were wrongly imprisoned by anti-corruption prosecutors.

Iohannis, a Dragnea critic, suggested the proposal smeared the memory of the 1,105 people who died in the 1989 anti-Communist revolt. He said: “Romania won’t return to the black era of a one-party state.”

Dragnea is widely perceived to be the person running Romania’s government even though he can’t be prime minister because of a 2016 conviction for vote-rigging.