November 6 (SeeNews) - Some 35,000 people rallied on Sunday night in Bucharest and other Romanian cities to protest against what they see as plans of the government to weaken the fight against corruption.
The protest action was announced on Facebook last week against the plans of ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) to make possible the appointment of Romania's chief prosecutors by the justice minister, without the control of the president.
"This means that the Prosecutor's Office becomes subordinate to political interests. If this package of laws were to be adopted by Parliament, it would mean a disaster for Romania and its citizens. We can say goodbye to independent justice system," the manifest published on social media said.
In Bucharest, some 20,000 protesters marched from Piata Victoriei square in front of the government headquarters to the Parliament building chanting messages in support of the country's anti-corruption agency, DNA.
Some 15,000 Romanians also protested in Timisoara, Brasov and Cluj on Sunday, local media reported.
Sunday's protests were peaceful all over the country.
The planned legislative changes were initially announced by justice minister Tudorel Toader in August and currently are debated in parliament.
The 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 since the fall of communism. An estimated record 500,000 people gathered at the time in Bucharest and other Romanian cities seeking the government's resignation.
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