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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 15-21/12/2008 |
| (2008-12-19) |
| Last updated: 2008-12-22 16:18 EET |
The coalition that will be ruling Romania in the next four years, made up of the right-wing, pro-presidential Liberal Democratic Party and the left-wing alliance of the Social Democrats and Conservatives, has this week finalised the government platform and has nominated the new ministers. The only exception is the position of justice minister, who has been agreed to be occupied by a person with no political affiliation. The structure of the government was announced as early as Tuesday. The new cabinet will be made up of a prime minister, a deputy prime minister, 18 ministers and one minister in charge with the relation with Parliament.
The Liberal Democrats, who nominated the prime minister, the party president Emil Boc, have also taken over the ministry of finance, transport, economy, defence and regional development, communications, culture, youth and tourism. The Social Democrats have nominated the deputy prime minister and the ministers of labour, education and research, healthcare, agriculture, environment, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the interior ministry and the ministry of foreign affairs. The ministry for the relation with Parliament will also be headed by a Social Democrat.
Emil Boc announced that the priority of the new government was to take immediate measures to reduce the impact of the economic and financial crisis. The government platform, which is to be presented for Parliament approval on Monday, also includes a large number of social protection measures, while a sizeable share of the budget is channelled into investments. Continuing reforms in the justice, public healthcare and education sectors is also a priority for the new government. The programme is based on a 3.5 per cent economic growth rate, a maximum 2.5 per cent of GDP budget deficit and an only 5 per cent inflation rate. Experts regard it as an over-optimistic programme, which fails to take into account the economic crisis that Romania will be facing next year. But coalition members argue that this is a realistic and responsible governing programme, with measures tailored to meet Romania’s urgent needs.
On Thursday, tens of people protested in downtown Bucharest, demanding the cancellation of a government ordinance that tripled the pollution charge levied on second-hand cars. The ordinance was issued on December the 15th. The government also decided to grant an exemption from this charge, for new Euro-4 compliant vehicles with engine capacity below 2,000 cubic centimetres registered for the first time in Romania, as well as for Euro 5 and Euro 6 compliant vehicles and for electrical and hybrid vehicles.
According to the Tariceanu cabinet, the measure, which will remain in force until the end of next year, is intended to protect the domestic car sector from the effects of the economic and financial crisis. Dacia Renault Romania and Ford Romania have recently requested state guarantees for loans contracted with the European Investment Bank, and Dacia announced further personnel downsizing and temporary redundancy measures. Second-hand car importers claim the ordinance must not be enforced, because the European Commission does not allow measures that favour carmakers. An NGO called The Commissariat for Civil Society sued the government and asked the Bucharest Court of Appeals to cancel the order. The Court will analyse the new regulation on January the 20th.
The European Commission has adopted this week a set of measures to address the effects of the global economic crisis. The measures are part of a comprehensive recovery plan proposed by the Commission in late November. The plan is applicable until the end of 2010, with measures to be re-assessed as the financial and economic situation changes. Member states are now allowed to provide 26 types of state aid to business operators, without having to notify the Commission on each particular intervention. The plan is intended to ensure quick access to bank loans and state aid and to encourage investments.
On December the 17th, the city of Timisoara, in south-western Romania, observed a day of mourning in memory of the victims of the December 1989 anti-communist uprising. Nineteen years ago, tens of youths protested against the communist authorities’ decision to evacuate the Hungarian pastor Laszlo Tokes from the city. The young were arrested on the night of December the 16th, and detained for hearings. Dozens of people were killed, several hundred others wounded and close to one thousand arrested before revolutionaries took control over the city, on December the 20th. The revolution reached a climax on December the 22nd, in Bucharest, and brought about the demise of the communist dictatorship in Romania.
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