November 13 (SeeNews) - Thousands of people rallied on Sunday night in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to protest against controversial fiscal changes announced by the government and to support the fight against corruption.
Some 1,000 people gathered in front of the government headquarters in Bucharest to protest against an emergency decree introducing changes to the fiscal code that was issued by the government last week as well as against government plans to appoint Romania's chief prosecutor without the consent of the president.
Protest rallies were also held in Brasov, Cluj, Timisoara,Targu Mures, Ploiesti, Galati, Bistrita, Iasi, Tulcea, Baia Mare, Alexandria and Alba Iulia, local media reported.
In Bucharest, two people were detained by police for minor offences, according to media reports. Otherwise, Sunday's protests were peaceful all over the country.
On Wednesday, Romania's governing coalition comprising the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and centre-right Liberal-Democrat Alliance (ALDE) approved an emergency decree to change the country's fiscal code starting January 2018. The changes, which have drawn fire from businesses, stipulate that workers will have to pay the social security contributions currently paid by employers, while income tax will drop from 16% to 10%.
In the view of employees, the changes will not increase their net salaries, as the government claims, and will only complicate their fiscal position.
At the beginning of November, businesses and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis asked the governing coalition to abandon the planned tax changes which in their opinion will lead to fiscal chaos.
People also protested against against PSD's plans to make possible the appointment of Romania's chief prosecutors by the justice minister, without the control of the president.
This was the second straight Sunday of protests in Romania. On November 5, some 35,000 people protested in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to support the fight against corruption.
People also protested against PSD's plans to change a law which prevents a convicted person from being elected president of Romania. If adopted, the bill would benefit PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who has a two-year suspended jail sentence for a referendum fraud in 2012. Currently, the draft bill is pending vote in the upper house of parliament, the Senate.
In February, attempts of the PSD-led government coalition to include some corruption offences in a draft bill on prison pardons sparked the biggest nationwide protests in Romania since the fall of Communism. An estimated record 500,000 people gathered at the time in Bucharest and other cities seeking the government's resignation.
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