Thousands of Romanians took to the streets again in the capital, Bucharest, to protest against the government and show support for the country’s anti-corruption authorities.

Demonstrators on March 5 gathered in Victory Square near government buildings and waved Romanian and U.S. flags. The demonstrators marched toward the parliament, with many chanting, “Romania, wake up!” and “We want justice, not corruption!”

The crowd, estimated at 10,000 people by local media, moved on to express support for the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA), which has been criticized by the Constitutional Court after it began investigating the Justice Ministry.

Anti-corruption protests have been held regularly since late January. They peaked on February 4 with an estimated 330,000 people on the streets across the country, making them the largest protests in Romania since the 1989 fall of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

The protests forced the Social Democrat-led government of Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to repeal an emergency decree that critics said would have weakened anti-corruption efforts. Still, some of the protesters have remained on the streets, many demanding the resignation of Grindeanu and his government, which triumphed in December 11 elections.

Reuters 

6 March 2017

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