Romanian President Klaus Iohannis appoints Sorin Campeanu as interim PM as

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said Thursday that he will consult with protesters who held mass demonstrations before forming a new government, following the resignation of prime minister Victor Ponta.

Education minister in Ponta’s left-leaning administration, Campeanu told Romanians that as balanced an economy as possible is needed in order to preserve trust in the country.

“I hope that my resignation and that of the Government will meet the expectations of those who protested and that we will soon return to reason and rational solutions for what is to be done in Romania”, said Ponta. A few of the people who took to the streets after this incident may still remember the revolution marking the end of communism in 1989.

But Romanian people instinctively felt that the political system itself incubates latent errors, and that this needs to change if such events are to be avoided in the future. “If in 1989 (anti-Communist revolution) people fought for liberty, in 2015 we are fighting for justice”, said protester, Hans.

Ponta could face his first court hearings later in November.

His departure might lead to a political realignment, although the coalition of three mainly leftist parties that form a majority in parliament showed no signs of a split.

Regular parliament elections are scheduled for December 2016. They always require new measures against corruption and reforms. But people connected the tragedy to government corruption and poor safety supervision.

The current wave of outrage in the country stems from the grief over the Colectiv club fire, which channelled into anger over lax enforcement of regulations at the nightclub.

Ponta has been facing growing calls to resign for more than a year due to a number of damaging scandals.

The votes went instead to current Liberal president Klaus Iohannis, but they were empty votes, sealed in desperation by a people exhausted of letting “them” have their way.

Romania needs not only a real change in the political class, as people on the streets are demanding, but also a change in the widespread culture that turns a blind eye to ruled being bent and laws being flouted.