ALDE's Tariceanu says no medical justification for extending state of alert

National chairman of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) Calin Popescu-Tariceanu says there is no medical justification for extending the state of alert in Romania, but there is "an electoral and business vested interest" of the rulers.

"As expected, Mr Iohannis ordered the prime minister to extend the state of alert! I think Mr Iohannis likes to play God to the fullest! Behind this decision, there is no medical justification, only the electoral and business vested interest of the rulers. It is clear that they want to squeeze some more money out of contracts without bidding, maybe cover up for themselves or put some grandchildren or godchildren in plum positions. How can you believe them when they say their intentions are good if they still don't tell us how many Romanians have been tested so far or why they do 2,500 tests one day and 10,000 tests in another ?! (...) The reality is that they have no idea what to do and so they are sticking with the bans," Tariceanu wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

The ALDE leader proposes the intervention of the authorities where COVID-19 cases appear, the imposition of the state of alert at local level and he vows to oppose what he calls "blocking" the whole country.

According to Tariceanu, "the government must return to its role: leading the country, economic recovery, job creation, increasing pensions and allowances according to the law, fighting the effects of drought, restoring the irrigation system and a lot of other important things that they have abandoned out of a desire to milk the coronavirus for electoral gains."

President Klaus Iohannis said on Tuesday that the state of alert should be extended with fewer restrictions and called on lawmakers to vote on that.