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Some 500,000 Romanians Take to Streets Demanding Government Resignation

© Sputnik / Tudor Vintiloiu / Go to the mediabankAnti-government protests in Bucharest
Anti-government protests in Bucharest - Sputnik International
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Despite the Romanian government repealed a controversial decree that was expected to decriminalize small-scale government corruption in the country in the wake of mass protests, 600 thousand of people took to the streets of the country's cities on Sunday demanding the leadership's resignation.

Protesters wave a Romanian flag during a demonstration in Bucharest, Romania, February 1, 2017. - Sputnik International
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Romania Decriminalizes Corruption
CHISINAU (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, local media reported that over half a million of Romanians were participating in the manifestations across the country.

The Romanian government revoked the amendments to the Criminal Code reducing the penalties for corruption and pardoning several groups of prisoners, which adoption had resulted in nationwide protests.

According to the Digi24 broadcaster, despite the cabinet's move people demand the government's resignation while only the rally in Bucharest has gathered over 300,000 protesters becoming the largest rally in the country since 1989.

​​The protesters carry national flags and banners with slogans criticizing both the government and the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD), the media outlet added.

At the same time, the country's Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu had refused to step down, saying that the government could be dissolved only following the vote of non-confidence.

​Romania has been mired in a wave of protests since Tuesday after the government approved two decrees issued by the country's Justice Ministry. The first of them reduced the penalties for corruption as well as the punishment for the abuse of power. The second one introduced pardons and amnesties for certain prisoners, such as parents of small children.

The country's new government, elected in December, explained that the law was necessary to help align the criminal code with rulings by the Constitutional Court. However, news of the decree soon spread, leading to mass demonstrations across Romania.

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