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| The Week in Review |
| (2012-03-10) |
| Last updated: 2012-03-09 15:41 EET |
Romanian President Traian Basescu has addressed Parliament in the absence of the opposition.
On Wednesday, the Romanian president Traian Basescu addressed Parliament on matters of home policy, while opposition parties continue their parliamentary strike. Among others, the President insisted that the reform of the political class required applying the result of the 2009 referendum regarding the setting up of a single-chamber parliament as well as reducing the numbers of MPs to 300. On the other hand, Basescu hinted at a possible increase in public sector salaries some time around June 1st. Public sector salaries were slashed by 25% in 2010 due to the financial crisis. Traian Basescu:
“I am confident that the parliamentary majority, and, why not, the opposition, together with the government, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister can look at the state budget in its current form, and, without cutting investment, but curtailing other areas of the budget, will be able to come up with the money so that at the end of your parliamentary term in office you may tell public sector employees their salaries have been restored to the level they had when you took office”.
The opposition has accused the president for acting on behalf of the government. National Liberal Party leader Crin Antonescu:
“It is not up to the president to increase or decrease salaries, and, as a result, I refuse to comment on his statement, which oversteps the boundaries of the Constitution.”
In turn, trade unions argue that the president’s request to increase salaries in the public sector is a populist statement. Pundits believe the evolution of the Romanian economy does not allow for pay raises. Their view seems to have found support in a recent report of the rating agency Fitch. Fitch analysts say an increase in nominal salaries, outperforming productivity increases, will trigger a hike in the inflation rate and will endanger the disinflationist trend of the past quarters.
Jiu Valley miners are calling for a pay raise for hazardous working conditions.
Earlier this week, thousands of miners working in seven exploitation sites in Jiu Valley have taken to the streets. Miners are calling for an increase in the bonus for hazardous working conditions, from 125 to 150 euros, tantamount to the national minimum salary. Officials within the Ministry of the Economy say there is no funding to support the extra payment. Miners also complain about harsh working conditions underground, where more often than not they lack essential gear. In fact, the mining sector is currently undergoing a reform process. Of late, the European Commission has signed a 270-million-euro aid package aimed at closing down unprofitable mines in the Jiu Valley. Three such mines are due be shut down by the end of 2017.
President Traian Basescu has promulgated the law on domestic violence.
Any harmful acts of physical, verbal, psychological, sexual or social violence are forms of domestic violence. The law on preventing and fighting domestic violence was promulgated by the Romanian president on Thursday, after the Chamber of Deputies passed in on February 28th. The victim can request that the perpetrator be expelled from the household and that they remain at a 200-plus-meter legal distance from the former. Any telephone or email contact is prohibited. According to data from the ‘’No Abuse’’ Association, more than 12,000 women were subjected to abuse between 2009 and 2011.
Deadly attack in downtown Bucharest.
Unprecedented attack in downtown Bucharest: Gheorghe Vladan, a former Interior Ministry car driver, fired 11 bullets killing his wife, who had filed for divorce and one of her workmates, and injured six people. He was placed under preventive arrest, for first-degree murder and murder attempt. The head of the Bucharest Police was sacked and several police officers are under investigation for failing to solve the complaint filed by the perpetrator’s wife. The latter had claimed that Vladan owned a gun and that he had threatened her. Police officers who issued the gun permit are suspected of professional negligence. The gun permit file was incomplete, as it lacked a psychologist’s approval.
Romania’s Constitutional Court rules the Ungureanu government is legitimate.
Romania’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the Parliament’s decision whereby the government led by Mihai Pazvan Ungureanu was invested is constitutional. The court rejected as ungrounded the Social-Liberal opposition’s contestation of the investiture. The opposition had cited the fact that many of the specialist committees had met without a quorum. The executive received the Parliament’s investiture vote on February 9th.
The ‘’Rabla” Car Scraping and the Green House Programs continue.
The Romanian environment minister, Laszlo Borbely, has said that the car fleet renewing program will be granted a 120-million lei budget, this year. 30,000 cars will be scrapped. Romanians who own cars older than 10 years can trade them in for a maximum of 3 vouchers. More than 300,000 old cars have been scrapped since 2010, with Romanians buying about 100,000 new cars, on vouchers. The “Green House” program for individuals will be resumed in 2012. So far 43,000 families have accessed these funds to buy power plants based on renewable energy and benefited from state-provided bonuses worth between 1,500 euros and 2,000 euros.
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