Ciolacu says he is being blackmailed by the bosses of the gambling companies because of the project that moves the gambling dens to the outskirts of the cities

Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu accused that there is “a form of blackmail” against him, as well as other officials of the Romanian state, after he proposed the draft law that removes the panhandlers outside the localities. “In my capacity as prime minister, I request the Romanian state to see if we are talking about a violation of the law and blackmail or just a random phenomenon,” added the PSD leader, News.ro reports.

• “I spoke with Mr. Simonis, an analysis of what these games of chance mean. Naturally, I took my part in the gambling law, at the Government, and I started working together with experts from the Ministry of Finance on what needs to be changed in the law so that tricksters can stop tricking us. I have initiated a bill with the famous scumbags that you find, Mr. Mayors, in all the communes and you know best the miseries they create. The fact that people, especially when they have a precarious financial situation, think that by playing these games, they will get rich immediately. I have also seen reactions and the attacks on me and Freddy will continue to be the same as on Sorin Grindeanu”, said Marcel Ciolacu, on Saturday at the PSD Timiş County Election Conference, from Timisoara.

The president of the social democrats also specified that he requests the Romanian state, in his capacity as prime minister, to check “if we are talking about a violation of the law and blackmail or we are only talking about a random phenomenon”.

• “The longer the wall of corruption in the Ministry of Transport and interests holds up, the more it will be attacked. You have to assume, I’m ready, just like Freddy (Alfred Simonis – nr) and Sorin (Grindeanu – nr) and we’re not afraid of anything we’ve done. Know that they do not stop here. Be afraid of what they can invent about you. That is why I consider that we have reached a form of blackmail. In my capacity as prime minister, I request the Romanian state to see if we are talking about a violation of the law and blackmail or if we are talking about just a random phenomenon”, added Ciolacu.

We remind you that the bill that removes the gambling halls outside the localities was adopted at the beginning of September by the senators. According to the legislative initiative, the license for gambling is granted depending on the number of inhabitants of the locality, proven by a certificate issued by the local public administration authority, so that there is at most one workplace per 20,000 inhabitants.

The draft law aims to amend GEO 77/2009, being initiated by a group of parliamentarians from the PSD and stipulates that the space dedicated to gambling is located no more than 50 meters from the territorial limit of the city/municipality or commune, including Bucharest municipality. All betting agencies, casinos or slot machines are targeted, with the exception of Lottery agencies for the sale of their own products.

The project will go to the Chamber of Deputies, the decision-making body in this case.