The Romanian government is to withdraw a contentious corruption decree. Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu announced the legal order to decriminalise some graft offences is to be repealed in a cabinet meeting on Sunday (February 5).<br /><br /> “I do not want to divide Romania. Romania cannot be divided in two,” he said. <br /><br /> “I believe Romania, at this moment, with everything happening on all sides, seems broken in two, if not even more pieces. It would be the last thing I would want.”<br /><br /> Parliament is now to debate a new corruption law, the prime minister added.<br /><br /> Tens of thousands of people welcomed the announcement, which came after five days of mass protests a stone’s throw from the prime minister’s office in Bucharest. <br /><br /> The demonstrations were on a scale not seen since the fall of Communism at the end of 1989.<br /><br /> Due to come into effect in a matter of days, the decree would have freed from jail dozens of officials who have been convicted of corruption and seen hundreds of others avoid prosecution.<br /><br /> Grindeanu’s administration had insisted the measure was an effort to ease the country’s overcrowded prisons. However, Romania’s ombudsman challenged the new law in the constitutional court. <br /><br /> It was also criticised by the influential Orthodox Church.<br />
