UDMR's Kelemen: Basically, I'm reluctant about draft on the local elected officials

Chairman of the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) Hunor Kelemen said he was "basically reluctant" about the draft ordinance concerning the local elected officials, although he added the subject could be discussed "provided that there are enough arguments".

"We didn't approach the matter yet inside the coalition, although we did have a Cabinet meeting last week. However, we will meet again in an hour and I'm expecting this matter to be brought into talks. I am basically reluctant about such an initiative, but, provided that enough arguments are brought, we should nevertheless discuss it. I don't see how this could be a problem", said Hunor Kelemen on Tuesday at the Senate, just before the meeting programmed with the members of the Culture Commission of the Senate.

Hunor Kelemen added that, in his opinion, "a disease" of the Romanian political life, of which UDMR was spared, is the phenomenon of political migration.

"I, for one, am reluctant and have said it many times that a grave problem, a disease of our political life, is this possibility to easily migrate to other political parties. Maybe we are excepted from this scourge. We did not receive, and did not send politicians from or to other parties. So, in what concerns us, this migration phenomenon did not exist", said Hunor Kelemen.

Deputy Prime Minister Liviu Dragnea, Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration, on Friday said in Suceava that the Government may approve an emergency ordinance that would allow local elected officials to freely opt for another party than that they were being part of when elected, without losing their mandates, and that he will present a proposal to Prime Minister Victor Ponta to this effect.

"We have...