Bucharest (AFP) November 4, 2015– Romania’s Prime Minister Victor Ponta resigned Wednesday following a deadly nightclub blaze, a day after more than 20,000 people rallied in to demand he step down.
The 43-year-old announced his resignation on television, saying it was right that top officials took responsibility for Friday’s tragedy at the Colectiv disco in Bucharest, which left 32 dead and nearly 200 injured.
Ponta, Romania’s premier since 2012, had faced weeks of intense pressure to quit after going on trial in September facing charges of fraud, tax evasion and money laundering.
“I am stepping down as prime minister,” he said. “I hope the government’s resignation will satisfy the people who came out in the streets.”
The Social Democrat added: “I have to acknowledge the legitimate anger of the people.”
President Klaus Iohannis must now name an interim prime minister before launching talks with political parties about forming a new government.
Demonstrators massed on Tuesday evening in Victory Square, the seat of government, calling for Ponta’s resignation and that of his interior minister, Gabriel Oprea.
The toll from the nightclub fire would have been far worse but for the heroism of two men, physicist Claudiu Petre and drummer Adrian Rugina, who went several times into the burning club to rescue trapped revellers, only to die themselves.
Witnesses said a fireworks display triggered the blaze at the Colectiv, which was located in a former shoe factory. The inferno sparked a deadly stampede. Nearly 200 people were injured in the tragedy.