Ciolacu on Gov't's quarantine bill: Legislative zombie; we invite civil society to Parliament to repair PNL chaos

The interim president of Social Democratic Party (PSD), Marcel Ciolacu, said on Wednesday that the bill of the Orban Government on quarantine and isolation is "another legislative zombie" and that he will invite the civil society to Parliament to repair "the National Liberal Party (PNL) chaos".

"The Orban Government is giving birth to another legislative zombie and is imposing a debate on us as a matter of urgency. We invite civil society to Parliament to repair the PNL chaos together! Only at first reading did my colleagues find in the law on quarantine and isolation aberrations that seriously dent Romanians' rights and freedoms. I list a few examples from the thinking of a party that calls itself liberal, but wants to turn the state into a totalitarian regime. Isolation provides not only for physical separation, but also the mandatory application of a treatment including to asymptomatic people - as it has already happened, unconstitutionally, in many hospitals. The wording 'high probability of the occurrence and spread of a pathogen agent' allows the Government to institute quarantine and maintain it at any time. Anyone and anything can be suspected of being 'potentially exposed' to the virus and quarantined, restrictions are applied also to some goods of Romanians, such as cars, for example," Ciolacu wrote on Facebook.

He added that there is no clarity in the draft law on the duration of deprivation of freedom, and "scientific data" cannot be a legally valid criterion when it comes to deprivation of freedom, because it does not provide any predictability. Ciolacu said the bill offers "discretionary powers" to the health minister "to order the worst measures of deprivation of freedom when there is an imminent risk, at the mere proposal of the National Institute of Public Health, which is subordinate to it."

"Today I heard the most important voices of civil society pointing out other examples of dramatic slippages that this law causes. Therefore, tomorrow we will invite the main Romanian NGOs specialized in defending human rights to debate this law in committees. We will listen to them and take over their proposals. Let us see whether the PNL also considers the civil society an 'enemy of the people', on the model of Constitutional Court," Ciolacu stated.