Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned after thousands of people flooded the streets of Bucharest Tuesday in an unannounced anti-government protest.
Ponta, 43, had been struggling to contain anger at the deaths of 32 people in a nightclub fire last week. Demonstrators blamed corruption among officials for the incident, and also demanded the exit of the interior minister and the mayor of the capital.
“I hope that my and the government’s resignation will satisfy the protesters’ expectations and that we’ll be able to avoid a prolonged period of instability that could hamper all the good results we’ve had so far,” Ponta said Wednesday in a speech in Bucharest.
Ponta, facing trial for charges including money laundering and complicity in a tax fraud, had already said he wouldn’t seek a second term at elections next year in the European Union and NATO member. The ruling coalition will meet at 1 p.m. in Bucharest, Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said in televised comments.
Romania’s currency, the leu, weakened after Ponta’s announcement. It was down 0.3 percent at 4.4462 against the euro at 11:04 a.m. in Bucharest, trimming this year’s gain to 0.7 percent.
No comments:
Post a Comment