Behind the scenes of the vote in the Parliament at the request of the USA. AUR move, after Simion said the decision “affects the destiny of the nation” / Two elected officials opposed “by mistake”
George Simion criticized, from the podium, the CSAT decision, but his party did not vote against it. What a HotNews analysis shows of Wednesday's vote in Parliament, at the end of a session marked by scandal.
- The Parliament approved with 272 votes for, 18 against, 5 abstentions the CSAT decision to approve the US request in Romania for American refueling planes and monitoring equipment. There were also two elected officials who opted for “not voting”.
- The parliamentary opposition formed by AUR and POT accused that the elected officials did not have time to read the classified document that reached the Parliament from the Presidential Administration. Political sources told HotNews that any parliamentarian could consult the document at the office of the chairmen of the defense committees in Parliament.
- The opposition also accused that less than 100 MPs out of the 463 have read the document, due to lack of time. USR, through the voice of deputy Ionuț Moșteanu, claimed, instead, that there was enough time.
- According to HotNews sources, about 50 MPs read the two pages. There were also some parliamentarians who did not know that they could go to consult the document, as some elected officials said in discussions with HotNews.
“We have a responsibility towards the Romanian people that no citizen is put at risk”, said George Simion, on Wednesday, at the Parliament's tribune, before the vote. “We do not agree to Nicușor Dan's letters and guarantees, coming from Mr. Grindeanu and other unhealthy parts of Romanian politics,” he also said.
At the time of the vote, the AUR parliamentarians present at the meeting removed their cards from the machines. That is, they did not vote against the CSAT decision, but only stayed by declaring against the US request.
There was also an exception: parliamentarian Corneliu Negru, who voted to abstain.
Simion, after the party's decision: “We don't want to alarm the Romanians”
“We did not vote for this project, yes, we took out our cards. We did not vote for this project because we are not confident that the safety and protection of every citizen is respected. The moment we have this safety, that it is only defensive, only for the protection of Romania and Romania's allies, then we will be able to…”, George Simion told journalists after the Parliament session.
Asked by HotNews why AUR did not vote against it, George Simion said: “We are not clear on this project, if it is only defensive.” At HotNews' insistence, George Simion said that the party did so “because it might be just defensive, we don't want to alarm the Romanians”.
POT, movement similar to GOLD
An identical strategy was also at POT. The president of the party, Anamaria Gavrila, announced that her party will not participate in the vote, after criticizing the decision that this vote exists.
Only three POT MPs expressed their option:
- Codruța Maria Cocheș (opposite)
- Sergiu Lucian Matei (abstention)
- Gabriela Porumboiu (she chose the option “I don't vote”).
The rest of the elected from POT, including Anamaria Gavrilă, took out their voting cards at the opening of the voting session.
Two parliamentarians of the power encountered “technical problems”
Senator Paul Stănescu, from the PSD, voted “abstain”, and deputy Alexandru Popa, from the PNL, ticked the “not voting” option, according to public data on the website of the Chamber of Deputies.
Contacted by HotNews on Thursday, both said they voted that way because of a technical error.
“I voted online, on my tablet, I pressed quickly, I made a mistake, and then the vote was closed. I actually support the decision. It was not on purpose,” explained PNL deputy Alexandru Popa.
“By mistake, I abstained. By the time I voted for, the vote was over. I am pro-American, it was a technical mistake, mine,” said deputy Paul Stănescu, former secretary general of the PSD.
The surprise votes: MPs who left POT and SOS Romania supported the CSAT decision
The seven parliamentarians (out of 12 in total) of the Pace-Întâi Romania group who voted chose to be “for” the approval of the CSAT decision.
The Pace-First Romania group is formed in the Senate by senators elected on the SOS Romania and POT lists.
Out of 12 non-affiliated MPs, two supported the decision. One of them: George Becali
Of the 12 non-affiliated MPs who expressed their choice in Parliament on Wednesday, only two voted to approve the CSAT decision.
One of them is George Becali, who is a deputy elected on the AUR lists, now unaffiliated, following the resignation from the party led by George Simion.
The second unaffiliated parliamentarian who supported the decision to approve the request from the US is Daniel Paul Romeo Gheorghe (elected on the SOS Romania lists).
SOS Romania voted en bloc against
Among the 15 deputies of the SOS Romania formation, a party led by Diana Șoșoacă, 10 expressed their vote in Parliament on Wednesday. All voted against approving the US request:
- Ana-Marcela Bas, SOS Romania
- Andreea-Petronela Cîmpianu, SOS Romania
- Ionel Goidescu, SOS Romania
- Tudor Ionescu, SOS Romania
- Simona-Elena Macovei Ilie, SOS Romania
- Sorin George Oltenașu, SOS Romania
- Nini Alexandru Pascalini, SOS Romania
- Elena Laura Toader, SOS Romania
- Mihai Adrian Țiu, SOS Romania
- Vlad Andrei Vidra, SOS Romania
How others voted
Seven unaffiliated parliamentarians and one parliamentarian from POT joined those from SOS Romania to vote against:
- Ciprian Ciubuc, unaffiliated
- Dumitru Coarnă, unaffiliated
- Dumitru Manea, unaffiliated
- Paul Ciprian Pintea, unaffiliated
- Gheorghe Petru Pîclișan, unaffiliated
- Aurora Tasica Simu, unaffiliated
- Mariana Vârgă, unaffiliated
- Codruța-Maria Corcheș, POT
Five MPs voted to abstain:
- Dumitrita Albu, unaffiliated
- Mădălin-Laurentiu Făget, unaffiliated
- Sergiu Lucian Matei, POT
- Corneliu Negru, GOLD
- Paul Stanescu, PSD
And two ticked the “don't vote” option:
- Alexandru Popa, PNL
- Gabriela Porumboiu, POT
