April 11 (SeeNews) - Attempts to weaken judicial independence and the anticorruption framework in Romania are expected to continue in 2018, accompanied by an increasing illiberal discourse against groups that oppose those changes, independent watchdog organisation Freedom House said on Wednesday.
"In preparation for the presidential elections scheduled for 2019, the government’s populist and clientelistic behavior will also continue, including attempts at buying influence at the local level with public funds," Freedom House said in its latest report Nations in Transit 2018.
This year, a referendum to change the constitution to redefine “family” could be instrumental in energizing socially conservative groups, the organisation also said.
Last year was a turbulent one in Romania as it saw massive street protests against government attempts to limit judicial independence and undermine the country’s anticorruption framework. A new cabinet led by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) fuelled significant public distrust by attempting to pass emergency ordinances in these sensitive areas immediately after taking office in January 2017. The protests halted some of the proposals in early 2017, but debates around the limits of political, administrative, and criminal liability continued throughout the year, engaging the of whole society.
Details on Romania (ratings based on a scale of 1 to 7, with 1 the highest level of democratic progress and 7 the lowest):
|
2016 |
2017 |
2018 |
National Democratic Governance |
3.75 |
3.50 |
3.75 |
Electoral Process |
3.25 |
3.00 |
3.00 |
Civil Society |
2.25 |
2.25 |
2.25 |
Independent Media |
4.25 |
4.25 |
4.25 |
Local Democratic Governance |
3.25 |
3.25 |
3.50 |
Judicial Framework and Independence |
3.75 |
3.75 |
3.75 |
Corruption |
3.75 |
3.75 |
3.75 |
Democracy Score |
3.46 |
3.39 |
3.46 |