Electoral campaign for the local and Euro-parliamentary elections has started in Romania
The campaign for the local and European Parliament elections in Romania has started and will end on Saturday 8 June at 7:00. The Central Electoral Office strongly recommends that during these 30 days the electoral contestants should respect the rules on campaigning, to have a balanced, honest and constructive discourse and to avoid distortion or manipulation of information. Stricter rules have also been adopted for election posters, with banners and posters of a standard format and displayed only in the spaces provided by town halls. During the 30-day election campaign, messages or slogans of a discriminatory nature, those inciting hatred and intolerance, and the use of any means, forms or actions of defamation and religious or ethnic enmity are prohibited. Moreover, the President of the Central Electoral Bureau, Vasile Bâcu, advises electoral competitors to respect the rules established for a civilised electoral campaign and to have a balanced, honest and constructive discourse, avoiding distortion or manipulation of information, precisely in order to prevent the spread of false news or other slips that could constitute real obstacles to the smooth running of the electoral process. The representative of the Central Electoral Office also draws attention to the electoral discourse and political messages to be conveyed by the electoral contestants. All these must respect and promote the principles of democracy and contribute to the development of a climate of integrity that shows respect for other competitors and also for voters. In order to be able to vote in full knowledge of the facts and to form their own opinion, voters need objective, factual and accurate information, say the Central Electoral Office, who suggest that voters can go through several documents that are already available either on the website of the Central Electoral Office or of the Permanent Electoral Authority and beyond, namely the code of good practice on misinformation or the guide to prevent and combat voter misinformation.
New regulations announced by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu against disguised price increase on some products
The reduction in product weights has come under the spotlight of the Romanian authorities. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu announced on Friday that a regulation will be drawn up forcing producers to visibly inform on the packaging that a product has a lower grammage but the price remains unchanged. The Prime Minister said that this phenomenon was increasingly common in European countries. „Some retailers have reduced the weight of products but left the prices unchanged. I consider this a form of deception against consumers. It is in fact a disguised and economically unjustified price increase under very similar packaging. I call on all the control authorities in Romania to intervene urgently and, in parallel, to prepare a regulation on the French model – producers should be obliged to visibly indicate on the packaging that they have reduced the weight, if the price of the product has remained unchanged – and, obviously, harsh penalties for non-compliance with this obligation”, said Marcel Ciolacu. The price increase has been „masked” by producers in many parts of the world by maintaining the price, but for a smaller quantity. In several countries, consumers have been outraged by this phenomenon, known as shrinkflation, and the authorities have forced producers to clearly indicate on the label that the product has been reduced. Those who don’t comply risk hefty fines.
Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians celebrate the Life-Giving Spring on Bright Friday
Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians celebrate the Life-Giving Spring on Bright Friday, a day dedicated to Our Lady. It recalls a miracle performed by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the 5th century, when she revealed to the Byzantine Emperor Leo a spring with whose water a blind man was healed. Today, in Orthodox churches, after Mass, the service of the so called “small holy water” is performed. The believers take the holy water home and sprinkle it all over their homes.
Magda Baciu
