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MNB Quarterly report on inflation - March 2012

International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies, IFIMES

  
 
1 
 
The International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) in 
Ljubljana, Slovenia, regularly analyses events in the Middle East and the Balkans. In 
view of the failure to implement the judgement in the Sejdić-Finci case adopted by 
the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, IFIMES has analysed current 
situation in relation to the vital constitutional changes and the background of the 
reconstruction of power in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Federation of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and its cantons. The most interesting sections from the analysis entitled 
“SEJDIĆ-FINCI CASE IN THE SHADOW OF (INTER)MAFIA CLASHES” 
are published below. 
 
 
 
SEJDIĆ-FINCI CASE IN THE SHADOW OF 
(INTER)MAFIA CLASHES 
 
The leaders of the main political parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina often meet at 
informal meetings. Those meetings are attended by presidents of the leading parties 
in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina: the Social Democratic 
Party of BiH (SDPBiH), the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), the 
Party of Democratic Action (SDA), the Union for a Better Future of BiH (SBBBiH), 
Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZBiH) and 
Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990). 
 
Frequent informal meetings of party leaders point to the non-functioning of formal 
institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the majority of political decision-making 
taking place outside the state institutions. Formal institutions such as the Parliament 
represent merely the transmission of political will and agreements determined 
informally by party leaders. 
 
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: 
 
At the recent meeting between Bosnian-Herzegovinian party leaders and EU high 
representatives in Brussels it was agreed that by 31 August 2012 BiH authorities 
should provide the solution for the implementation of the European Court ruling in 
the case of “Sejdić and Finci against Bosnia and Herzegovina”. 
 
WHAT IS HIDING BEHIND THE RECONSTRUCTION OF POWER? 
On December 22, 2009, the Grand Chamber the European Court of Human Rights 
(Applications Nos. 27996/06 and 34836/06) adopted the judgement in the Sejdić-
Finci case, finding that the applicants Dervo Sejdić (Roma) and Jakob Finci 
(Jewish) as the members of minority communities were deprived of their right to 
stand for election to the House of Peoples, which is contrary to Article 14 of the 
  
 
2 
European Convention (prohibition of discrimination in relation to the rights laid 
down in the Convention) in conjunction with Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 thereto, and 
to stand for election to the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which represents a 
violation of Article 1 of Protocol No. 12 (general prohibition of discrimination).  
 
The judgement in the Sejdić-Finci case represents the most significant judgement 
adopted so far by the European Court of Human Rights against Bosnia and 
Herzegovina. In the judgement Bosnia and Herzegovina was ordered to amend the 
provisions of its Constitution as well as the Election Act so as to enable the 
individuals who do not declare themselves as members of “constituent peoples” to 
stand for election as members of the BiH Presidency and delegates to the House of 
Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  
 
Analysts have warned that behind the discussions on the implementation of the 
Sejdić-Finci judgement attempts have been made to introduce certain fundamental 
constitutional changes by providing solutions for the implementation of the 
judgement that would enable certain political elites to take control over their 
respective ethnic communities and to form election units at their own will in order to 
control all social aspects in those units.  
 
 
SECRET NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN SDP and HDZ IN RELATION TO 
THE SEJDIĆ-FINCI JUDGEMENT 
Divergent opinions held by Bosnian-Herzegovinian political parties regarding the 
amendments of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina have prevented the 
implementation of the judgement in the Sejdić-Finci case. From the legal point of 
view, the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of “Sejdić 
and Finci against Bosnia and Herzegovina” questions the foundations of the 
constitutional system in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The most burning questions are 
how to change the relevant constitutional  provisions in order to enable individuals 
who are not members of the constituent peoples (i.e. belonging to ethnic minorities) 
to stand for election without jeopardising the present division of authority between 
the constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina? Should the process of 
implementing this judgement be extended in order to amend other provisions of the 
Constitution which also represent the source of discrimination on the basis of ethnic 
origin? And most importantly, is the international community giving up the Dayton 
Agreement, or in other words, does the current pressure exerted by the international 
community on BiH authorities to implement the judgement in the Sejdić-Finci case 
represent a period of new constitutional uncertainty for Bosnia and Herzegovina? 
Analysts have warned that the implementation of the judgement serves as the excuse 
for a new political reorganisation and that by introducing cosmetic changes required 
to remove the discriminating provisions against minorities in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina the politicians are trying to introduce a new constitutional system 
through the back door. The implementation of the European Court decision has 
  
 
3 
opened new questions in relation to the judgement – while it would enable members 
of minority communities to stand for election to the Presidency of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina there would be no guarantee that they would actually be elected since 
the Constitution does not provide for a representative of ethnic minorities to be a 
member of the Presidency. This points to the absurdity of the implementation of the 
Sejdić-Finci judgement: if no minority representative or the fourth member of the 
Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina is ensured, the question of minority 
representation in the BiH Presidency would not be resolved by the Sejdić-Finci 
judgement. This inevitably leads to the need to introduce the fourth member of BiH 
Presidency and can incite constitutional changes that may eventually enable the state 
of Bosnia and Herzegovina to have one common president. Bearing in mind that 
according to some estimates about one fifth of the population in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina are minorities whose numbers even exceed those of Croats in Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, this question will inevitably come on the agenda. Moreover, if the 
solution was reached in the House of Peoples it would mean that the representatives 
of minorities to the House of Peoples would be appointed by the representatives of 
constituent peoples through the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and the National Assembly of Republika Srpska and not by minority 
representatives, which would be unacceptable. The most appropriate solution would 
be for minority representatives to the House of Peoples to be appointed at the state 
level by the Council of National Minorities. According to analysts' estimates 
minorities represent one of the healthiest parts of Bosnian-Herzegovinian society. 
 
The discussions and procedures taking place in the Council of Ministers and the 
Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been discontinued for some unknown 
reasons, while the resolving of the most vital and fateful issues has been moved to the 
level of political parties where they have become the subject of interparty 
negotiations and political trading. An even more worrying fact is that the 
amendments of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina are being discussed 
without consulting any experts on the constitutional and international law. Secret 
meetings which have been taking place for one year between SDP and HDZ high 
officials Lidija Korać (SDP), Josip Merdža (HDZ), Saša Magazinović (SDP) 
and Borjana Krišto (HDZ), who are definitely no legal experts, can not help Bosnia 
and Herzegovina on its way to implement the Sejdić-Finci judgement, but merely 
point to the lack of transparency on the political scene in this country.  
 
Euro-Atlantic integration of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not imply the privatisation 
of the state, therefore European officials engaging in inter-party negotiations should 
be aware that everywhere in the world and in Europe, except in Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, discussions on constitutional amendments are not held at private party 
meetings but in the highest legislative bodies and in consultation with experts. 
 
The pressure exerted by the EU in view of the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci 
judgement and setting this as the condition for EU accession of Bosnia and 
  
 
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Herzegovina represents another mistake in European politics. Requiring domestic 
politicians to take some decisions on their own undermines the foundations of the 
Dayton Agreement and opens Pandora's Box, bringing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 
political insecurity. The imposition of asymmetrical and partial solutions by the EU, 
that would actually change the vital parts of the Constitution of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, leads to a political crisis in this country and yet another manipulation of 
its citizens. The most illustrative example of the manipulation of Bosnian-
Herzegovinian citizens is the absolute disregard of minority representatives in all 
negotiations related to the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci judgement. Instead of 
involving the representatives of minorities – which account for 1/5 of the population 
in Bosnia and Herzegovina – in the discussions on legal proposals and solutions, they 
are ignored and removed from the decision-making process by the international 
community and domestic political actors. This actually proves the intention of 
individual political elites in Bosnia and Herzegovina to apply some cosmetic changes 
in order to redesign the political and legal system with the aim to promote the 
interests of certain constituent peoples and further strengthen the instruments of 
power between and within those constituent peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
Current solutions according to which BiH Presidency member from the Republika 
Srpska entity would be elected directly while the member from the Federation of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina would be elected indirectly through the Parliament mean 
that BiH Presidency would be reduced to a satellite function, making it hostage to the 
political will of the leading parties in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
Analysts believe that the present situation resembles that in 2000/2001 when certain 
political parties from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina enabled the present 
positions of the president of Republika Srpska, prime minister of Republika Srpska 
and speaker of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska to be occupied only by the 
representatives of the Serbian people instead of ensuring equal representation of 
Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks at these three highest functions. The political hoaxes 
about the authentic and non-authentic representatives of individual nations are 
hiding behind cosmetic political actions as well as current activities to implement the 
European Court judgement regarding human rights of ethnic minorities. The 
appropriate path would therefore be to start eliminating the existing asymmetries 
related to entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina instead of creating new asymmetries. 
 
Being the authors of the Dayton Agreement, both the EU and the US should be 
actively involved in the implementation of the Sejdić-Finci judgement in order to stop 
its private implementation. The implementation of the judgement should be brought 
back in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Moreover, 
representatives of Bosnian-Herzegovinian minority nations should be involved in the 
discussion on possible solutions for the Sejdić-Finci judgement. 
 
The representatives and leaders of parliamentary parties bear and will bear the 
responsibility for partial and inadequate changes to the Dayton Agreement, since the 
implementation of the Sejdić-Finci judgement should be carried out on the basis of 
  
 
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the guarantees and the clear position of the international community (notably the 
US) who is the author and the guarantor of the Dayton Agreement. For example, 
regarding the failed constitutional amendments in 2006 the international community 
had insisted on the comprehensive reorganisation of the Constitution of Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and categorically opposed partial and asymmetric solutions. 
 
(INTER)MAFIA CLASHES 
 
The announcement made by the president of the Union for a Better Future of BiH 
(SBBBiH) Fahrudin Radončić that he will eradicate state mafia and tear out its 
heart sounds very cynical. This statement could attract the attention of lay public 
outside Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina there is no 
organised fighting against mafia but rather (inter)mafia clashes or the fighting of one 
political-criminal group against another political-criminal group, of which the one 
currently in power misuses state institutions in order to realise its goals. 
 
Bosnia and Herzegovina is thus in an absurd situation where mafia leaders are 
undertaking the fight against mafia. The origin of property belonging to political 
leaders who are meeting at informal meetings still has not been investigated. Analysts 
have warned that for the past 15 years a global crisis has been present in the printed 
media with even some leading newspaper houses being unable to survive on the 
market. On the other hand, certain printed media in Bosnia and Herzegovina have 
reached fantastic business results, which justifiably raises doubts about their 
connections with organised crime. 
 
FOUR OUT OF SEVEN LEADERS CANDIDATES FOR THE “BLACKLIST
 
While the political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina might appear quite confusing 
to those who are not familiar with the political scene in this country, several 
directions of political development are clearly visible. 
 
Citizen protests in Banja Luka represent an introduction into the fall of Milorad 
Dodik's regime and remind of events in 2004 when Dodik initiated protests in Banja 
Luka as the centre of Republika Srpska, which led to the overthrowing of SDS 
government. Investigations carried out against Dodik in Croatia, Bosnia and 
Herzegovina and Lithuania regarding cash transfers will reveal Dodik's real character 
even to his most loyal followers. 
 
Implementation of the Sejdić-Finci judgement represents an introduction into radical 
constitutional changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
If SDP continues its present policy it will lose a significant share of popularity which 
will most probably lead to the end of political career for Zlatko Lagumdžija. 
 
” 
  
 
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The so called “blacklist” will see some changes with certain individuals from Bosnia 
and Herzegovina being erased while the names of some current political party leaders 
will be put on it. As many as four out of seven current political leaders will most 
probably be blacklisted. 
 
Recent decision of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina on war gains 
in which it held that such property should be owned by the state and not by the entity 
points to the strengthening of state institutions as one of the preconditions for 
speeding up EU accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
 
The fight against organised crime will show its first results with the prosecution of 
present and past leading politicians and functionaries at the state, entity, canton and 
municipality levels. This will create the situation in which mafia leaders will no longer 
be able to present themselves to the public as fighters against mafia. 
 
Ljubljana, August 7, 2012                    
                                         
                                                                      International Institute for Middle-East and     
                                                                      Balkan Studies (IFIMES) - Ljubljana                                                               
                                                                      Directors: 
                Bakhtyar Aljaf                                                                
                Zijad Bećirović    
                                                                                                                         
        


Sejdi\u107-Finci case in the shadow of (inter)mafia clashes

Ministry of Administration and Interior, Romania

M I N I S T R Y  O F  A D M I N I S T R A T I O N  A N D  I N T E R I O R   
PRE SS REL EA SE  
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 10 ,  2012  
The electoral process for the Romanian Parliament was legal and transparent, without 
major incidents 
 
The 60,000 employees of the Ministry of Administration and Interior took action during the vote 
day in order to ensure a democratic and legal electoral process even if the weather conditions have 
hampered public access to polling stations. 
 
Despite the weather conditions, the turnout seems to be more significant now compared with the 
elections in 2008, according to the official estimates. 
 
Ministry of Administration and Interior succeeded in accomplishing its mission with transparency 
and professionalism. Periodically, the Ministry informed the public opinion through the mass - 
media regarding the situation in the country and also the electoral process. 
 
The Ministry of Administration and Interior had also ensured the proper transportation of vote 
papers to the County Election Offices and the Central Electoral Commission. 
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 9,  2012  
Elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Romania - 16.00 hrs 
 
Since the beginning of the voting process, between 07.00 and 17.00 hrs, through the National 
Reporting and Monitoring System 370 notification of possible infringements of the electoral 
legislation have been recorded. 
 
Out of the total number of the incidents reported today, 183 took place in the urban area, while 187 
in the rural area. 
 
By 17.00 hrs 41 minor offences were identified and sanctioned, the fines applied amounting to 
17,600 lei; the counties of Dambovita and Gorj recorded the highest number of minor offences. At 
the same time, investigations are being conducted in 35 presumably criminal offences, out of which 
17 are related to bribery. 
 
For the proper development of the parliamentary elections, the Ministry of Administration and 
Interior, through its Directorate for Persons’ Record and Database Management (DEPABD), has 
taken this week the necessary actions so that those people who do not have valid documents could 
get their identity cards. 
 
The departments of persons’ record all over the country are open even today, until 21.00 hrs. At the 
level of the Directorate for Persons’ Record and Database Management and its territorial units, at 
national level, 13,738 ID documents have been issued (1,303 in Bucharest and 12,435 in the other 
counties). 
 
The situation of the ID documents issued today is as follows: 
 
- 12,936 ID cards out of which 
o in Bucharest (including DEPABD) – 1,157 
o at the level of the other counties – 11,779 
- 802 temporary ID documents, out of which 
o in Bucharest (including DEPABD) – 146 
o at the level of the other counties – 656 
 
By 17.00 hrs, 32 gendarmes have voted today, out of the 45 gendarmes present in a training 
mission in Afghanistan, under the co-ordination of NATO. 
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 9,  2 012 
Elections for the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of Romania - 12.00 hrs 
 
Main issues addressed during the press statement delivered by the spokesperson of the Ministry of 
Administration and Interior (MAI) superintendent of police Monica Dajbog, 12.00 hrs. 
 
Between 07.00 and 11.00 hrs, through the National Reporting and Monitoring System 66 
notification were recorded. 
 
Out of the total number of incidents, 37 events took place in the urban area, while 29 in the rural 
area. 
 
The most of these incidents took place in Bucharest (12) and in Buzau and Olt (11 in each of them). 
 
Two minor offences were identified and sanctioned, the fines applied amounting to 1,500 lei, and 
investigations are being conducted in two presumably criminal offences. 
 
A videoconference with the prefects on the severe weather conditions and on the development of 
the voting process is scheduled at the MAI venue at 15.00 hrs. 
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 9,  2012  
The Elections Day - 8.00 hrs 
 
On Sunday, December 09, 2012, Secretary of State for the Relation with Parliament and 
Government Bogdan Tohaneanu delivered a press statement on the way the voting process started. 
 
You can find below some of his statements: 
 
I want to assure you that the parliamentary elections are organized in full compliance with the law. 
We will not accept any violation of the law, as we did not tolerate any violation of the legislation 
during the election campaign. 
 
• The Ministry of Administration and Interior and the Government have taken all the necessary 
technical measures so that the voting process could be developed lawfully; 
• Everybody has to be aware of the fact that the law provides sanctions for any infringement of the 
electoral legislation. If there are people willing to try to break the law, my advice is to give it a second 
thought. They have to seriously think about it: is it worth risking their liberty for some more votes in 
fovour of somebody? We are determined to enforce the law whenever necessary. 
• The National and County Command Centres for Severe Weather are activated and functional 24/7. 
In the videoconference held yesterday, the minister for interior Mircea Dusa requested that the local 
administration and the Road Traffic Police clear the roads so that the people could reach their 
respective polling sections. At the same time, actions have been taken to provide electric power to all 
the polling places, so that the voting process could properly be developed. The relevant units of the 
Ministry of Administration and Interior are permanently monitoring and taking actions for duly 
tackling the situation. 
• The Minister for Administration and Interior called for the support of the army in helping with 
intervention equipment, if the operational situation requires it. 
• The minister also requested that the equipment belonging to Craiova Regional Centre be sent to 
Caras and Mehedinti. 
 
*** 
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Administration and Interior (MAI) superintendent of police 
Monica Dajbog presented the situation of the events recorded during the election campaign, as 
follows: 
 
At this moment, we can confirm the fact that the voting process started in almost all the polling 
stations. 
 
Out of a total of 18,456 polling sections set up across the country, only 14 could not start the voting 
process at 7.00 hrs, as scheduled: 1 polling section in Alba County, 2 polling sections in Arad County, 3 
– in Bacau County, 1 – in Brasov, 5 – in Buzau and 2 in Arges. 
 
We remind you that at nation level there were established 18,456 polling stations, out of which 6,306 
in municipalities, 1,739 in cities and 10,411 in villages. 
In Bucharest there are 1,239 polling stations. 
 
Since yesterday afternoon, the employees of the Ministry of Administration and Interior have been 
ensuring security at the polling stations. 
 
Thus, 33,000 employees of the Ministry of Administration and Interior are carrying out guarding 
missions at all the polling stations across the country. 
 
At the level of every county, an operational command centre was activated, which co-ordinates all the 
territorial missions of the MAI units so as to ensure quick respond and intervention whenever an 
elections-related incident or infringement of the legislation is reported. 
 
Moreover, in every county teams of officers from the central unit of the Romanian Police are 
monitoring the responsiveness and the organisation of territorial forces already established, so that 
the investigation in the cases notified could be duly carried out. 
 
At the same time, here, at the MAI headquarters, the Operational Command Centre is activated, 
monitoring the overall development of the public order and safety activities today, in the 
parliamentary elections day. 
 
At the level of this Operational Command Centre an application was implemented allowing all the 
elections-related events to be introduced and centralised, by the means of which even the solutions 
reached in every case can be monitored. 
 
Now, I’ll refer to some recent aspects recorded on Saturday, 08 December, after the election campaign 
has ended: 
 
From 08 December 2012, 07.00 hrs, to 09 December 2012, 07.00 hrs, 128 notifications were registered 
on possible violations of the law. There were identified 50 minor offenses and investigations are 
carried out in 20 cases of reportedly criminal offences, out of which 7 refer to bribery. 
 
I’ll underline now some technical aspects of the voting process development, as stipulated by Law No 
35/2008: 
 
The Romanians who are over 18 years old have the right to vote, including those who are 18 on the 
elections day. The mentally disabled, as well as the prisoners deprived from their voting right by final 
court decisions are forbidden to vote. 
 
The citizens can only vote at the polling station to which the street or the locality where they have 
their residence belongs. 
 
The Romanians who have their residence in a foreign country can vote at a polling station in their 
respective country. 
 
According to the law, inside and around the polling stations – up to 500 metres around – the chief 
officer of the polling section has to take all the necessary actions so that the elections could properly 
develop. 
 
For preserving order, the chief officer of each polling section is provided with all the necessary public 
order tools, ensured by the mayor, the prefect, as well as by the representatives of the Ministry of 
Administration and Interior. 
 
Excepting for the polling officers, candidates, delegates and the observers with an accreditation, no 
persons are allowed to stay in the public area around the polling place or inside the polling booth 
more than the necessary. 
 
Only the polling chief officer can take action so that a voter would not stay in the polling booth more 
than necessary without any serious reason. 
 
The presence of any other person inside the polling booth, together with the voter, is forbidden. 
 
Any person who refuses to obey the decisions made by the president of the electoral bureau of the 
polling station on ensuring order in the polling place or area is sanctioned, having to pay a fine 
amounting from 1,500 to 4,500 lei. 
 
During the elections day, the election campaign is also forbidden, and so is trying to persuade the 
voters, inside the polling sections, to vote or not vote for a particular candidate. All these aspects are 
within the province of the president of the electoral bureau of the polling station. 
 
Law No 35/2008 on the parliamentary elections provides some criminal offences - punished through 
prison sentences from 6 months to 7 years, as follows: 
• Preventing somebody from voting or being elected (imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years); 
• The breach of the voting privacy by the polling officers or by any other person (imprisonment from 6 
months to 3 years); 
• Promising/ offering money or goods for persuading someone to vote of not vote for a particular 
electoral competitor or candidate, as well as receiving money or goods by voters for the same purpose 
(imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years); 
• If someone votes without having the right to vote, or it someone votes more than once on the 
elections day (imprisonment from 6 months to 5 years); 
• Using a counterfeit ballot paper, introducing more ballot papers in the ballot box than the legal 
number of ballots a voter has the right to, or counterfeiting the electoral documents at the electoral 
bureaus (imprisonment from 2 to 7 years). 
 
We remind you that over 50,000 police, gendarmes, border police, employees of the General 
Inspectorate for Emergency Situations and other relevant institutions are carrying out missions meant 
to ensure the development of the elections in full compliance with the law. 
If someone learns about possible violations of the electoral legislation are kindly asked to call 112 or 
to inform the nearest police station about that particular situation.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 8,  2012  
MAI activated the Operational Command Centre 
 
Two days before the Parliamentary elections, the Operational Command Centre of MAI was 
activated with all its components. 
 
The Operational Command Centre of MAI (COC) co-ordinates the missions of all the operative 
structures responsible for maintaining public order and safety during the Parliamentary elections. 
 
Here, the relevant data and information received from all over the country on the situation of public 
order and safety is centralised, and sent in real time to all the decision-makers of the ministry and 
the other structures. 
 
Thus, during this elections campaign have been recorded 923 possible infringements of the law; 
most of them referred to the electoral posters. There have not been recorded serious incidents. 
 
During the four-week election campaign, there were identified 357 offences, having been applied 
fines amounting to over 188,600 lei. At the same time, investigations are conducted in 351 cases of 
reportedly criminal activities, out of which 75 are related to bribery. 
 
The number of the offences and crimes recorded during the election campaign for the 
Parliamentary elections are three times fewer than those recorded during the election campaign for 
local elections which took place in the spring of 2012, when 953 offences and 1,108 crimes were 
identified. 
 
The Operational Command Centre plays a role of utmost importance, especially in special situations 
or when the units of the Ministry of Administration and Interior participate in very important 
missions, such as the one of ensuring appropriate organisation and development of elections, in full 
compliance with the law. 
 
BUC HAREST,  DEC EMBER 8 ,  2012  
Measures to be taken before the Parliamentary elections 
 
On Saturday, 08 December 2012, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Administration and Interior, 
has taken place a video-conference of the MAI decision-makers with the prefects and the 
representatives of the other institutions with responsibilities not only in the proper tackling of the 
problems caused by the weather conditions these days, but also in the appropriate organisation of 
the Parliamentary elections. 
 
As the representatives of the Romanian Meteorological Authority sent a severe weather warning, 
the Minister of Administration and Interior Mircea Dusa underlined that it is necessary that all the 
actions meant to ensure the proper and duly intervention for clearing the snow be taken at national 
level, but especially in those particular counties where severe weather conditions has been 
announced, as the local authorities are provided with all the necessary equipment and antiskid 
materials. 
 
The minister’s request referred to the intervention on the national and county roads, so that the 
Romanian citizens could reach their respective polling stations. 
 
In this context, the Road Traffic Police will be ready for quick intervention these days, carrying out 
missions with approximately 2,800 police agents at national level. 
 
For the next two days, the national command and dispatching centres which were set up at the level 
of the relevant state institutions – Ministries of Transportation, Public Health, Environment and 
Economy – will stay activated, ensuring quick reaction round the clock. Likewise, the prefects and 
sub-prefects were imperatively ordered by Minister-Delegate for Administration, Mr Radu Stroe, to 
ensure reactive intervention at the headquarters of the prefect’s institutions. 
 
As for the organisation of the elections, minister Mircea Dusa has stated that during this election 
campaign - which ended this morning - no serious incidents were recorded, that they are much 
fewer than those recorded at the local elections, appreciating the MAI representatives’ action as 
totally equidistant. 


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