Romania has withdrawn controversial amendments to corruption laws, as nationwide protests against high-level graft entered a sixth day.

Fulfilling a promise made late on Saturday, the government announced on Sunday it had approved a repeal of a contentious decree that would have decriminalised certain corruption offences.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu had originally approved the ordinance late on Tuesday, with no input from the country's parliament, sparking the biggest demonstrations in the country in decades.

After repealing the decree, Grindeanu asked the justice minister to prepare a draft law to be sent to parliament for debate and approval.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party has a parliamentary majority with a junior partner. President Klaus Iohannis, who is expected to speak later on Sunday, then needs to sign off on the legislation.

Yet, the announcement did not stop demonstrators gathering again, with thousands of people protesting against what they deem an alarming retreat in the country's fight against corruption.

"It has gone, the amendments are history, but the protesters are still not trusting the prime minister," Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from the capital, Bucharest, said.

Chater said demonstrators are questioning Grindeanu's competence, with many calling him and his government to "go".

"Why did he try and rush through this legislation? What else will happen? They [protesters] are not happy with the way things are going," Chater said.

"They want to see the government cleaning up its act, being much more transparent. They're not really celebrating a victory, they want to make sure that this government changes its approach."

OPINION: Romania: Keep the corrupt in jail, where they belong

Grindeanu said on Saturday he would scrap the measure, as requested by Iohannis, as he did not want to "divide Romania".

The decree was to make abuse of power a crime only punishable by jail if the sums involved exceeded 200,000 lei (44,000 euros, $47,500).

Grindeanu's government said it would align the penal code with the constitution, but critics saw it as a clear attempt by the ruling party to let off many of its own officials and policy makers.

The street protests have been on a scale not seen since the fall of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.</s>Following mass protests, Romanian government backs down on a controversial plan to water down anti-corruption laws.

Romania's government has said it will withdraw a decree decriminalising minor grant offences, backing down on a controversial plan to water down anti-corruption laws following five days of mass protests across the country.

"Tomorrow (Sunday) we will hold a government meeting to repeal this decree," Sorin Grindeanu, Romania's prime minister, told a news conference on Saturday.

"I do not want to divide Romania. It can't be divided in two."

The announcement came as tens of thousands of people protested for a fith day against the contentious decree that decriminalises abuse of power offences in which the sums do not exceed 200,000 lei ($48,000).

Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from the demonstration in the capital, Bucharest, said the news about the decree's withdrawal sparked celebrations among the 70,000 protesters who had gathered in the city centre.

"People power on the street has succeeded in pushing the government into making these concessions," Chater said.

"There is going to be a massive celebration here, instead of another heated protest."

READ MORE: Romanians ramp up protests against corruption decree

The decree, which was adopted earlier this week, prompted large protests throughout the country, the largest since the fall of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.

On Saturday afternoon, demonstrators launched another noisy march in central Bucharest, blowing whistles and vuvuzela horns in the national colours, heading for parliament to form a human chain there.

"At some point we didn't think it would be possible to convince the government to back down on the proposal, but fortunately not even they can be that irrational as to ignore the hundreds of thousands of people protesting," demonstrator Claudiu Craciun told Al Jazeera.

The emergency decree decriminalised criminal punishments for conflict of interest, work negligence and abuse of power cases in which the financial damage is valued at less than $48,000.

A separate bill, to go before parliament, would free some 2,500 prisoners on short sentences.

The government said it was bringing legislation into line with the constitution and reducing overcrowding in prisons.

But critics feared a setback for a year-long fight against graft, calling the measures as a brazenly transparent effort by the government to let off some of the many corrupt officials involved in a series of scandals.

Mihai Politeanu, founder of the Initiative Romania NGO, told Al Jazeera the decriminalisation would had been a disaster for the future of Romania", taking it "back to the early 1990s when corruption and oligarchs took over the country".</s>BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's prime minister said on Saturday he was scrapping a decree that would have shielded dozens of politicians from prosecution for corruption, bowing to one of the biggest protests since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.

Sorin Grindeanu said the decree - which decriminalized several graft offences in what the government said was a bid to relive pressure on the prison system - would be repealed on Sunday, just five days after is was approved by the cabinet.

It would have come into force at the end of next week.

"I do not want to divide Romania. Romania can't be split into two. Right now Romania seems broken in two. My last desire is to witness this," Grindeanu said, referring to the public disgust at the decree which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets every day since it was passed.

While he made the announcement live on television, some of the anti-corruption protesters outside his office, which police estimated at 170,000, chanted: "Resign! Resign!" and waved the Romanian flag.

Soon after, an image of a map of Romania was laser-projected onto a nearby building, with the words: "We WOKE UP!" Protests in some 70 cities nationwide were estimated by police to number 330,000 people.

"They must go. This is an incompetent government," said one protester who gave his name as Gabriel. "We don't want to see this repeated. We won't give up."

The decree, seen by its critics as the biggest retreat on reforms since Romania joined the European Union in 2007, would have exempted abuse-of-power offences involving sums below 200,000 lei ($48,000) from prosecution - shielding hundreds of officials from justice.

It could have put an end to the ongoing trial of the head of the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) Liviu Dragnea, viewed as the real power behind Grindeanu's government which took office last month.

Dragnea, whose conviction for electoral fraud barred him from office, is accused of using his political influence to secure state salaries for two people working at his party headquarters between 2006 and 2013. He denies wrongdoing.

Dozens of political figures from all parties stood to benefit from the decree.

Nine Western powers including Germany and the United States said they were deeply concerned the decree could undermine Romania's partnerships in the EU and NATO.</s>Ziua şi recordul. Au fost peste 600.000 de oameni în stradă în toată ţara în cea de-a şasea zi de proteste. Oamenii rămân nemulţumiţi deşi Guvernul a abrogat Ordonanţa 13.

FOTO Agerpres

ACTUALIZARE 23.00. În Piaţa Victoriei din Bucureşti mai sunt câteva zeci de mii de persoane.

REPORTAJ - Protestul de la Bucureşti

REPORTAJ - Imagini de la protestele din ţară

Oamenii au început să plece în grupuri, spre case.

ACTUALIZARE 22.30. Imagini din Craiova:

VIDEO Imagini din Craiova

ACTUALIZARE 22.15. O treime din populaţia Sibiului este în stradă. Imagini impresionante:

VIDEO Imagini din Sibiu

ACTUALIZARE 22.00. Imagini din Constanţa:

VIDEO - Imagini din Constanţa

ACTUALIZARE 21.50. Sunt 50.000 de oameni în stradă în Cluj-Napoca

VIDEO imagini din Cluj - Napoca

ACTUALIZARE 21.45. Imagini din Iaşi

ACTUALIZARE 21.40. Sunt 300.000 de oameni la Guvern.

VIDEO Imagini din Braşov

ACTUALIZARE 21.25. O jumătate de milion de oameni sunt în stradă în seara zilei când Guvernul a abrogat OUG 13.

VIDEO - Imagini din Timişoara

Protestatarii cer demisia guvernului şi spun că nu au încredere în cei care îi conduc.

La Cluj Napoca sunt 45.000 de oameni, 40.000 de oameni la Timişoara, 30.000 la Iaşi.

ACTUALIZARE 20.55. Sunt 250.000 de oameni la Guvern.

Imagini din Piaţa Victoriei:

Sunt probleme la metrou, în Piaţa Victoriei trenurile nu mai opresc, motivul invocat fiind aglomeraţia. Oamenii au ales soluţia de a coborî la Piaţa Romană şi de a merge pe jos spre Victoriei.

ACTUALIZARE 20.45. Numărul protestarilor din Piaţa Victoriei a ajuns la 220.000.

La Timişoara sunt 40.000 de oameni, la Craiova 6.000, la Braşov 9.000, Cluj-Napoca 40.000, la Sibiu 33.000, la Iaşi 30.000.

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Imnul protestatarilor din Sibiu

ACTUALIZARE 20.20. Numărul protestarilor din Piaţa Victoriei a ajuns la 150.000.

La Timişoara sunt 37.000 de oameni, la Craiova 6.000, la Braşov 9.000, Cluj-Napoca 40.000, la Sibiu 33.000.

ACTUALIZARE 20.00. Numărul protestarilor din Piaţa Victoriei a ajuns la 100.000.

VIDEO WhatsApp - imagini de la Constanţa

VIDEO WhatsApp - imagini de la Sibiu

VIDEO WhatsApp - imagini de la Alba-Iulia

La Braşov sunt 9.000 de oameni, la Constanţa 4.000, la Sibiu 20.000, la Galaţi 5.000, la Cluj-Napoca 40.000, la Oradea 3.000, la Craiova 1.000, la Alba Iulia 1.000, la Suceava 500, la Mediaş 1.500, la Satu Mare 2.000, la Bacău 5.000, la Deva 1.500.

FOTO WhatsApp - imagine din Râmnicu Vâlcea

FOTO WhatsApp - imagine din Gorj

FOTO WhatsApp - imagine din Bucureşti - Piaţa Victoriei

ACTUALIZARE 19.50. Numărul protestarilor din Piaţa Victoriei a ajuns la 80.000.

ACTUALIZĂRI 19.30. Sunt 50.000 de oameni în stradă, la Guvern. Alte zeci de mii de persoane protestează în ţară.

Peste 4.000 de timişoreni s-au adunat din nou, duminică seară, pe platoul din faţa Operei Naţionale, la un nou protest început cu intonarea Imnului Naţional.

Peste 2.000 de persoane protestează, duminică seară, pentru a şasea zi consecutiv, în Piaţa Sfatului, din municipiul Braşov scandând „Uniţi, salvăm, toată România!”, „Demisia! Demisia!”. Protestatarii au anunţat că vor pleca într-un marş prin centrul oraşului.

Peste 500 de constănţeni au început să se strângă şi duminică seară în faţa Prefecturii judeţului, solicitând demisia Guvernului şi scandând lozinci împotriva PSD şi a preşedintelui social-democrat Liviu Dragnea. Ei spun că nu renunţă la proteste până când membrii Executivului nu vor demisiona, adăugând că au fost minţiţi şi că nu mai au încredere în aceşti guvernanţi.

Peste 2.000 de oameni protestează, pentru a şasea zi consecutiv, în Piaţa Unirii, din Iaşi, cei prezenţi cerând demisia Guvernului Grindeanu. Numărul celor care vin în piaţă creşte de la un minut la altul.

La Craiova sunt 1.000 de oameni în stradă.

ACTUALIZĂRI 19.25. Sunt 40.000 de oameni în stradă, la Guvern.

ACTUALIZARE 17:45 - Incident la protest. Trei tineri au fost luați de poliție și duși la secție. Este vorba despre o ceartă între mai multe persoane. La un moment cearta a degenerat iar una dintre persoane a fost lovită cu pumnul în față de un bărbat. A urmat o încăierare între patru persoane. Jandarmii au intervenit prompt și trei dintre agresori au fost extrași din mulțime și preluați de poliție pentru a fi conduși la audieri. În fața clădirii Guvernului sunt peste 15.000 de oameni. Se strigă „PSD, ciuma roșie”.

VIDEO WhatsApp - imagini de la Sibiu

VIDEO WhatsApp - imagini de la Alba Iulia

Jandarmii au mai scos din mulţime trei persoane care au venit în Piaţa Victoriei şi au strigat „Iohannis, ruşine”.

La această oră mai au loc proteste în Cluj, Timişoara, Iaşi, Sibiu, Constanţa, Galaţi, Piatra Neamţ, Alba Iulia, Vaslui, Buzău, Baia Mare, Brăila, Satu Mare, Focşani, Târgu-Jiu, Slatina, Braşov, Turnu-Severin, Craiova, Piteşti, Zalău, Târgovişte, Bistriţa, Călăraşi, Arad, dar și în alte localități.

ACTUALIZARE 17:30 - Peste 8.000 de oameni protestează, la ora transmiterii acestei ştiri, în Piaţa Victoriei şi scandează „Vrem să ne-auziţi, nu să ne minţiţi”, „Ne-am săturat, cât ne-aţi furat”, „Jos Guvernul” şi „Jandarmeria, jos pălăria”. Mai multe persoane au venit la protest cu un banner foarte lung pe care scrie „Aţi reuşit ...Ne aţi unit!”. În Piaţa Victoriei a venit şi Gigi Becali, un protestatar spunându-i că hoţii trebuie să plătească, printre care şi el.

Numărul oamenilor care vin în Piaţa Victoriei continuă să crească, unii dintre aceştia fiind din alte oraşe, printre care Cluj, Iaşi, Teleorman şi Călăraşi.

ACTUALIZARE 16:00 Sunt aproape 2.000 de oameni în Piața Victoriei. Unii au aflat deja că Guvernul a abrogat Ordonanța 13, dar sunt neîncrezători și spun că nu vor pleca până nu vor fi deplin lămuriți despre ce este vorba.

ACTUALIZARE ORA 13:00 S-au strâns circa 500 de oameni în Piața Victoriei. Unii manifestanți spun că au ieşit în stradă şi în decembrie 1989.

Un apel pe pagina de Facebook care găzduieşte anunţuri legate de proteste îndeamnă demonstranţii să nu mai aducă vuvuzele şi bannere cu înjurături. Unii dintre copiii prezenţi la protest au desenat un şotron cu cretă colorată, alţii poartă pancarte pe care scrie: „Spiderman, help!”, relatează News.ro.

Unul dintre demonstranţi ţine un tricolor mare, cu gaură în mijloc, altul poartă drapelul SUA.

„Este modul meu de a mulţumi ambasadei americane şi ambasadorului pentru implicare, suport şi ajutor. Pentru că a fost de un real ajutor. Este singura ambasadă care a invitat de două ori la discuţii directe şi premierul li președintele partidului de guvernare. Fără suportul venit din cancelariile occidentale urlam aici până la Paşte, pentru că, la câtă nesimţire e acum în clădirea aia nu aveam nicio şansă”, a spus protestatarul care a adus în Piaţa Victoriei drapelul SUA.

El a povestit că a fost în stradă în decembrie 1989 şi că la protestele din aceste zile regăseşte acelaşi entuziasm. „Din fericire, există o diferenţă enormă - nu sunt gloanţe. A reînviat acel spirit, ne redefinim ca popor din nou, vorba maestrului Liiceanu”, a adăugat el.

ACTUALIZARE ORA 12:00. Aproximativ 300 de oameni se strânseseră în jurul prânzului în Piaţa Victoriei din Capitală. Au ajuns acolo şi o parte dintre studenţii de la Cluj-Napoca și au venit de circa o oră foarte mulți părinți cu copiii lor. La fel ca ieri, și-au amenajat un adevărat loc de joacă, și-au adus bicicletele, se face multă mișcare, profitând și de vremea bună.

INEDIT. De altfel, încă de dimineață primii care și-au făcut apariția în piață au fost mai mulți cicliști care și-au montat bicicletele și au pedalat în gol. Un alt grup de tineri pasionați de jogging au alergat în jurul Guvernului. Ei au vrut să arate că sunt activi aici în țară și nu vor să plece din cauza măsurilor luate de guvernare.

Deja încă de dimineață au sosit la București câteva zeci de studenți de la Cluj, după o călătorie - gratuită - cu trenul care a durat toată noaptea.

Manifestanţii vor fi în piaţă, în timp ce la Palatul Victoria este programată să se desfăşoare şedinţa de Guvern în care se va decide abrogarea actului normativ. Gestul nu pare, însă, a fi de natură să ducă la întreruperea demonstraţiilor începute în urmă cu cinci zile.

Citiți și: Recomandările Poliției pentru protestatari

Conform anunţurilor făcute pe pagina de Facebook a evenimentului, duminică, la ora 20:00, atât în ţară, cât şi în diaspora, în pieţe va fi intonat imnul de stat, iar o oră mai târziu „fiecare participant la manifestaţiile din toate oraşele ţării şi din diaspora va ridica spre cer propria lumină aprinsă”, relatează News.ro.

Ca şi sâmbătă, când a fost înregistrată o participare-record la demonstraţii, în Bucureşti fiind prezenţi în Piaţa Victoriei 170.000 de oameni, în timp ce în ţară au ieşit în stradă aproape 300.000 (estimări News.ro - n.r.), şi duminică sunt aşteptaţi protestatari din toată ţara. Unii dintre ei au anunţat că vor veni la Bucureşti cu maşinile.

Mai multe instituţii, dar şi persoane fizice din Bucureşti vin în sprijinul manifestanţilor, oferind cazare celor care ajung în Capitală din alte judeţe ale ţării.

Citiți și: #Ro-mânia | Zeci de investitori au oferit gratis ceaiuri, mâncare şi cazare

Astfel, la Club Diamond Kids părinţii îşi pot lăsa copiii şi în weekend şi se oferă cazare pentru părinţii veniţi cu copii din alte judeţe. Grădiniţa Tom Sawyer primeşte copiii de peste doi ani, chiar şi peste noapte, rugând, însă, părinţii să aducă haine de schimb şi gustări.

Mai oferă cazare pentru cei veniţi din alte oraşe: Bucur’s Shelter Hostel, Hostel Little Bucharest, Hostel Pura Vida Sky Bar & Hostel Bucharest şi Vişini Hub, dar şi zeci de bucureşteni.

Pe Facebook a fost creat un grup pentru persoanele din alte judeţe ale ţării care participă la protestele anunţate în aceste zile în Capitală. Pe pagina grupului Cazare gratuită şi solidaritate pentru protestatari din afara Bucureştiului pot fi găsite anunţuri cu privire la ofertele de cazare sau chiar şi transport.

În ceea ce priveşte alimentele şi băuturile calde, la Jerry’s Pizza, restaurantul de pe bulevardul Magheru, cu parola „altă întrebare” este oferită o felie de pizza, în limita stocului disponibil. Re:Modelieri, din zona Pieţei Victoriei, oferă ceai cald manifestanţilor după ora 18.00, iar Share Cafe împarte toată ziua, sâmbătă şi duminică, ceai cald protestatarilor din faţa Guvernului. La Atelieri Pinion, cine vine cu o poză cu el de la protest primeşte o cafea din partea casei, iar la Green Hours se oferă ceai gratuit pentru manifestanţi. La Pain Plaisir, de pe strada Barbu Delavrancea, manifestanţii primesc o porţie de biscuiţi gratis.</s>Romania has backtracked on a decree that would have shielded dozens of politicians from prosecution for corruption after massive protests.

Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets of Bucharest and other cities to protest against the bill, which would have decriminalised several graft offences in a bid to relieve pressure on the prison system.

However, Romanian PM Sorin Grindeanu has announced that the decree will be repealed on Sunday – just five days after it was approved by the cabinet.

‘I do not want to divide Romania,’ he said. ‘Romania can’t be split in two. Right now Romania seems broken in two. My last desire is to witness this.’

The protests, which took place in 70 different cities across the country every day since the bill was passed, were the biggest since the fall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.

As Grindeanu made the announcement live on TV, some of the anti-corruption protesters outside his office chanted ‘Resign! Resign!’ and waved the Romanian flag.

Soon afterwards, an image of a map of Romania was laser-projected onto a nearby building – along with the words ‘WE WOKE UP!’

According to police, around 330,000 people protested over the week in total.

‘They must go,’ one protester, who gave his name as Gabriel, said. ‘This is an incompetent government. We don’t want to see this repeated. We won’t give up.’

The decree, seen by its critics as the biggest retreat on reforms since Romania joined the EU in 2007, would have exempted abuse-of-power offences involving sums lower than 200,000 lei (£38,179) from prosecution.

It could have also put an end to the ongoing trial of Liviu Dragnea, the head of the ruling Social Democrats (PSD), who is viewed as the real power behind Grindeanu’s government.

Nine Western powers, including Germany and the US, said they were deeply concerned the decree could undermine Romania’s partnerships in the EU and Nato.</s>About 500,000 Romanians took to streets around the country calling for the resignation of the social-democratic government, despite the fact that the administration had revoked its unpopular decree decriminalising certain types of corrupt acts. The demonstrators on Sunday chanted slogans — for the sixth consecutive day — such as “We want you to listen to us, not to lie to us” and “You’ve done it, you’ve gotten us united” on the plaza in front of the government headquarters, making a raucous clamor shouting and using noisemakers, Efe news reported.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu told Antena3 television that “I will not resign. We won the elections with millions of votes,” adding that in December the Social Democratic Party (PSD) garnered a winning 45 per cent of the ballots in the legislative elections. The crowd swelled to 300,000 in the capital of Bucharest, a much higher figure than in past days due to the arrival of many people from other cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Iasi.

Another 200,000 people demonstrated in other large Romanian cities in the largest wave of protests since the fall of communism in 1989. The PSD government on Sunday repealed a controversial decree decriminalising certain forms of corruption that had sparked a wave of mass protests across the nation. After the repeal of the decree, people began to gather in front of the government headquarters in the capital calling on the government to resign, and the crowd quickly ballooned to hundreds of thousands.

On Tuesday, the government imposed as a matter of urgency a decree that decriminalised some corruption cases if they cost the government less than 44,000 euros ($47,500). The controversial move, however, was greeted with outrage by the public, who took to the streets of the capital Bucharest in numbers unseen in Romania in decades.</s>Romania government may back down on misconduct law

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — The chairman of Romania's governing party has suggested that the government could back down in the face of massive protests against an ordinance which would decriminalize official misconduct.

In the first concession floated by the center-left government since the crisis broke out last month, party chairman Liviu Dragnea said Saturday in an interview with DC News he would meet Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu to "propose a solution."

Dragnea says, "we can possibly talking about repealing the decree if the prime minister agrees." Dragnea controls the government, and his comments suggest the matter has already been decided.

On Saturday, thousands of Romanians took to the streets for a fifth consecutive day to protest the decree that waters down the country's anti-corruption fight, sparking condemnation at home and abroad</s>Protesters gathered in Cambridge city centre to challenge a contentious corruption decree by the Romanian government.

Romanian residents held placards and sang songs on King's Parade on Sunday (February 6) in opposition to the new law.

The decree, which was due to come into force at midnight on Friday, would have decriminalised abuse of power crimes if sums of less than €44,000 (£38,000) were involved.

Thousands of Romanian citizens have been joining mass rallies in Bucharest over the plans leading to Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu announcing the repeal of the decree.

Alexandru Constandachi, 26, who moved to Cambridgeshire three years ago, joined around 50 other protesters in Cambridge at the weekend.

School pupils get lesson with a twist from Rubik's Cube 'speed cuber'

He said: "Romanians started protesting all over the world in the spirit of solidarity with our brothers at home.

"We were roughly 50 people at the protest, students, working class and even children.

"Even though it was cold as hell, the singing and the positive attitude kept us warm.

"Our protest was to show our solidarity with our brothers back home so most of our chantings were about them, to stand strong and keep on protesting: 'Resist and don't back down' or 'Cambridge is with you'."

Mr Constandachi said he was "disgusted" by the Romanian government's action and felt "sad" that his compatriots had to endure corruption back home.

He said: "The government is disgusting me and everyone I know. They think that if they buy the lower class with 10% increase on benefits and minimum wage that will give them the right to pass laws like that.

"It's sad that I am here and people back home have to endure all this corruption and disrespect from the Government."

Despite the decree being repealed, Mr Constandachi said the protests would continue.

He added: "The repealing decree has one paragraph that's unconstitutional which can be fought at the Romanian constitutional court. So this fight is not over yet.

"They still try to trick the population. Their plan is probably to calm down the people, stop the protests and still get it their way in the end."

Teodor Nicula-Golovei, 18, is from Transylvania in Romania and is studying modern and medieval languages at the Cambridge University.

He said: "The goal of this protest was to force the repealing of the laws which legalize a certain amount of abuse and fraud.

"We were basically protesting against the legalisation of abuse and fraud, against dishonesty and infamy, against a government pursuing their personal interests and not those of the country or the population.

"The experience of the protest was very fulfilling, because such a sense of community has hardly ever been seen among Romanians. Now it feels as if we were united in pursuit of a common, righteous goal.

"It is very satisfying to see so many people actually distinguishing good from bad and ‘fighting’ in a civilised, peaceful way for their cause which is worth fighting for."

Mr Nicula-Golovei said the Romanian government was a "puppet show" run by Liviu Dragnea, the President of Social Democratic Party (PSD), the largest party in the Romanian parliament.

He added: "PSD leaders deciding the future of our country almost by themselves seems quite dangerous to me, because the concept of ‘state-party’ or ‘party-state’ is something that Romania has seen before during communism and is not at all a welcome idea.

"We had heard that the decree would be repealed even before our protest here in Cambridge happened, which was a success, even if we hadn’t yet taken part in the protest.

"However, we weren’t disheartened, because even back in Romania protests didn’t stop. All the militants adopted a new goal, namely to force the resignation of the government.

"This is an ambitious goal, considering the percentage with which PSD won the elections and considering their lack of dignity to resign themselves after having caused the biggest street protest after the fall of communism.

"The final outcome of all the combined efforts of the peaceful protesters is yet to come."</s>Nigeria is ready; it is just a matter of proper planning. The people who are going to vote in diaspora are Nigerians. Once they are registered in our embassies and high commissions abroad, they should be captured in our electoral process to exercise their franchise. It is just that some people have labelled Nigeria a corrupt country where people are not ready to do things right. If not, there is nothing difficult about our citizens abroad casting their votes for candidates of their choice. It is a simple process.

All we need to do is to look at countries where it is working and learn from them. We should ensure that the system is transparent and devoid of vote rigging and other ills which Nigeria has been identified with in the past. Once we are truthful, honest and prepared to do it the way it should be done, I see no reason why we can’t allow diaspora voting as early as 2019.

We have a large population out there and we cannot afford to disenfranchise our citizens because of where they chose to live and work. Let Nigerians in diaspora be captured and subjected to all the processes Nigerians are subjected to during elections and let their votes count. This, to my mind, will go a long way to justify the declaration of whosoever wins the election as the person who actually won. •Mashood Erubami (President, Voters’ Assembly)

Well, Nigeria is not ripe enough for diaspora voting. The reasons are obvious; we have not been able to manage the irregularities that are manifest in the ones we conduct in the country. If you are not able to manage that, you should not even think of diaspora voting.

Before venturing into diaspora voting, we should perfect the ones that involve citizens within the country, especially prisoners. In this country, prisoners do not vote. We should finish with this first before thinking of including Nigerians in diaspora.

Nigeria has more than a thousand and one means of rigging elections. So, let us perfect what we have here before we start thinking about diaspora voting.

If we can make electronic voting system foolproof, one that somebody will be sure that his vote will count, one that the voters will be sure that the process will not be manipulated and also move a step to include prisoners. It is when all these are fulfilled that we can then talk of diaspora voting. •Dr Demson Ekong (Lecturer, Department of History and International Studies, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State)

What makes a nation ripe is the level of civility of that nation; it is the educational standard of those who are voters, and more importantly, the commitment and the patriotic nature of those who are voters.

Nigeria is not a primitive country, neither is it a backward nation. Voting is not new in Nigeria; we have engaged in several voting exercises in the past. We have witnessed voting in civilised countries and some of our wealthy citizens are even in Europe and they see the political nature of those countries.

Nigerians are adequately qualified to vote from anywhere they are in the world. Those in diaspora are qualified to participate in whatever is going on in the country, including voting.

Nigerians in diaspora are qualified to vote so that their voices will be heard and added to the voices of those at home. Whether they want to nominate or vote for a candidate, they should be allowed to have a voice. After all, they will still come back home and are governed by the people they voted for or did not vote for.

For instance, the Voting Rights of 1965 allows everyone to vote, irrespective of colour, race or religion. And wherever they are in the world, they conduct their own voting because their opinion would be needed for the development of their nation. What qualifies Americans, also qualifies Nigerians.

Although we have witnessed election rigging and malpractices and other things happening in our political system, we can’t use that to judge. I consider that it will be ideal to give every Nigerian the chance to be involved in the process of electing those who would lead them irrespective of where they reside in the world. •Prof. Dayo Alao (Vice-Chancellor, Adeleke University, Ede, Osun State)

Certainly, Nigeria is ripe for diaspora voting. It will be an anathema if the Independent National Electoral Commission can talk about electronic voting and they don’t allow those in diaspora to vote. If you remember during the build up to the 2015 elections, as the then National Secretary of the Labour Party, I wrote to the INEC Chairman on this issue.

Today, nothing less than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s eligible voter population is in diaspora. When you check the aggregate of those who do the actual voting during elections in Nigeria, they are just about 20 to 30 per cent of registered voters. When you check it very well, almost 17 million Nigerians abroad are currently disenfranchised because of the absence of diaspora voting.

It is imperative that this growing population of Nigerians is allowed to vote, particularly when we are doing electronic voting. Under this system, Nigerians can vote from any part of the world with a click of the button. I am proud to tell you that as a member of the Nigeria Bar Association, we put this process to test during our last election for the NBA President and it was successful. I voted from London and my vote counted. If the NBA can do it, I don’t see why the Federal Republic of Nigeria cannot allow diaspora voting. •Kayode Ajulo (A legal practitioner)

Nigeria is not yet ripe for diaspora voting. We have not even been able to address the challenges of conducting a free and fair election within the country. The challenge of not being able to embrace electronic voting is still staring at us based on various court judgments rejecting electronic voting.

If we have been unable to conduct a crisis-free election within the country, is it diaspora voting that will be easy for us to handle? For me, diaspora voting is still work in progress. Under Professor Attahiru Jega’s leadership, INEC achieved a lot but Nigerians appear not to be ready to join the rest of the world when it comes to the issues of electronic and diaspora voting.

Most Nigerian politicians want to remain in power and will do anything to subvert the will of the people. Let us try to conduct free, fair and credible elections first before we start thinking of diaspora voting.

Electronic voting should come first, but some court judgments have made it a nullity and without electronic voting, we cannot achieve diaspora voting. We have to get the first step right before we begin to talk about taking the second step. •Mr. Leyii Kewanee (A former Deputy Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly)

I think in this 21st century, Nigeria should be ripe enough for diaspora voting. This is an era of Information and Communication Technology and I think Nigeria should key into it.

One may not border so much about the modalities; I think it is the will and not the modalities to do it that should be of paramount importance. This is 21st century, the Federal Government should as much as possible, restore the economy, and it should also address security challenges across the country. The Federal Government should introduce diaspora voting as soon as possible.

The Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress, as well as other political parties have their supporters across the world. These supporters and other eligible Nigerians should be allowed to exercise their franchise from anywhere in the world. The constitution can be amended to accommodate relevant things that can bring positive development to the country. •Mr. Issa Manzuma (Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ilorin branch)

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 All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.</s>Romania has repealed a decree decriminalising some corruption offences after days of mass protest.

"The decree was scrapped," a government official told Reuters, adding that an official statement would be released soon.

Yesterday Romania's Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu said he would hold an emergency meeting to scrap the decree, which sparked the biggest protests in Romania since the end of communism in 1989.

“I don't want to divide Romania... Romania in this moment seems broken in two,” Mr Grindeanu said.
More than 600,000 people protest in dozens of cities in Romania and diaspora against Grindeanu Government.