UPDATE Iohannis: I'm going to use all the constitutional tools to challenge the criminal codes

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that he will challenge with the Constitutional Court (CCR) the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure.

"On the amended Criminal Code, I will have a longer presentation when I challenge this piece of legislation with CCR. It is also well known that the Code of Criminal Procedure, which I referred to a few days ago, is being currently looked into to be challenged. The amendments that have been made are either futile or even toxic and harmful, and I intend to use all the constitutional instruments to challenge these two pieces of legislation - the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure," Iohannis said at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.

He added that the adoption of the Criminal Code as amended is outrageous, underlining that what is happening is the dictatorship of the majority.

"It is simply unacceptable how PSD [the Social Democratic Party, major at rule] has transformed parliamentary procedures and how it is acting today in Parliament. What is happening these days is called the dictatorship of the majority and is profoundly damaging to democracy. There is a multitude of politicians in Romania claiming that we need to pay more attention to Parliament, but for that to happen, first, Parliament has to pay attention to itself. PSD passed the Criminal Code in Parliament in record time, with a simulacrum of a debate in the Chamber of Deputies, and that is profoundly damaging. PSD managed in a short time to destroy the dignity of lawmaking, to transform the debates in Parliament into a debate lacking transparency and leading to a predictable result. The arguments of the opposition are being trampled under," said Iohannis.

At a plenary session on Wednesday, the Chamber of Deputies adopted a draft amending the Criminal Code, by a vote of 167 to 97, and 19 abstentions.