“The Constitution makes it clear that marriage is between a man and a woman”
Of Manuela Gatti
Treccani makes it a linguistic question. Today and tomorrow, explains the Encyclopedia, Romania votes on the definition of "family" contained in the Constitution: must continue to mean "marriage between spouses" or must be transformed into a more clear-cut "marriage between man and woman"? The question that i 18 millions of voters will find themselves faced with is exactly this, but it is easy to understand that the consequences of the vote will not only be glottological.
The goal of the Coalition for the Family, the group of NGOs supported by the Orthodox Church that proposed the referendum, is to ban that, also in the future, same-sex unions can be legalised, which in any case are not already provided for by the Romanian legal system. If the "yes" votes won, one would be needed – long and laborious – constitutional amendment to allow rainbow marriages.
Bucharest thus decides to inaugurate the instrument of direct democracy: it's the first time, Indeed, since the end of Nicolae Ceauescu's regime in 1989 that the country holds a popular initiative referendum. The conservative tendency of the population and the strong influence of faith suggest that the consultation could find the consensus of the citizens. Also because the vast majority of political parties and parliamentarians expressed their support: The House and Senate gave the green light in recent months respectively with 232 votes in favor and 22 antonyms and 107 “yes” against 13 «no». Not to mention that, to propose the referendum, the Coalition for the Family, just born 3 years ago, she managed to collect 3 millions of signatures (500thousand was the minimum required). The Social Democratic Party is also in favor of amending the Constitution, the centre-left formation in government. Among the few against, Instead, the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis, who some time ago declared that "no one should be disowned because they are different". Human rights organizations have launched an appeal to boycott the vote, but the quorum necessary for the referendum to be considered valid is just 30%. According to the Politico website, "Yes" leaflets were circulated in grocery stores and distributed on public transport, so much so that investigations are underway into the possible violation of electoral rules.
Political opponents argue that the government has seized the opportunity, exploiting the referendum to divert public attention from the problem of rampant corruption in the halls of power. This summer the executive violently repressed protests against corruption and against changes to the judicial system introduced by the government, including the retirement of some magistrates after the start of investigations against them, among others, from "Dem" leader Liviu Dragnea, of several ministers and many public officials. Only a few days ago the EU Parliament called on Bucharest to respect the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.
http://m.ilgiornale.it/news/2018/10/06/la-romania-vota-contro-le-unioni-gay-e-la-sinistra-di-governo-e-favore/1584542/