June 21 (SeeNews) - Thousands of Romanians held rallies on Wednesday night in Bucharest and other cities after earlier this week parliament adopted amendments to the Criminal Code, which they see as an attempt to shield criminals and backtrack on the fight against corruption, a SeeNews reporter saw.
According to estimations by local media, some 14,000 people gathered in front of the government headquarters.
Some of the protesters clashed with the riot police and several people were arrested, footage by TV station Digi 24 showed.
Another 5,000 people marched peacefully in the citites of Iasi, Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, sibiu and Bacau, local media reported.
The amendments, initiated by the leftist ruling coalition comprised of of left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its junior partner Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE), were adopted with 175 votes for, 78 votes against, as well as one abstention on Monday night.
The legislation must now be passed for promulgation to president Klaus Iohannis, who has repeatedly said that he strongly disapproves of the changes.
Two parties - the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) and Uniunea Salvati Romania (USR) - have said that they will challenge the amendments in Romania's top court.
On Wednesday PNL submitted a censure motion against the government led by prime minister Viorica Dancila, accussing it of endangering the Romanian economy through faulty fiscal policies.
The PSD-ALDE government coalition has majority in the 465-seat parliament, holding 219 and 26 seats, respectively. PNL has 96 MPs, USR holds 41 and PMP has 14 MPs. The Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), which backs the government coalition, holds 30 seats.
The censure motion must be debated in a plenary session of parliament within five days after it was submitted. A vote must be held within three days after that.
More protests have been called for Thursday evening via the social neworks.
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