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| THE WEEK IN REVIEW 05-11/10/2009 |
| (2009-10-09) |
| Last updated: 2009-10-12 13:26 EET |
Thousands of employees in the Romanian state sector went on an all out strike on Monday. Two days later, the strike was followed by a rally which brought together over 15,000 people in downtown Bucharest, discontent with the austerity measures announced by the government. They are mainly dissatisfied with the new unified payment scheme which is to be enforced as of next year and which has been promoted without being debated by Parliament, as the government called only for a vote of confidence on that law. Designed to reduce big differences between the salaries of the employees of state institutions, the aforementioned law does nothing else but generate criticism and fear that incomes might be dramatically reduced, after many bonuses have been scrapped and taxes have been increased. They also protested against redundancy and unpaid temporary forced leaves. During the negotiations, interim Labour Minister Gheorghe Pogea, who is also Finance Minister, pointed out the high public spending and the difficult economic situation:
”The invitation that we have extended to the trade unions is actually an urge to take into account the economic reality and the current crisis, which is specific not only to Romania but also to most countries in Europe and the world. Last but not least, we have told the trade union leaders who attended the meeting held at the Labour Ministry that our goals, of going ahead with the reform and stepping it up are still valid, because they are solutions conducive to a deep-going process of modernisation in Romania, and ensure its sustainable development.”
Prime Minister Emil Boc has proposed to the trade unions a moratorium which will expire shortly after the presidential election, a moratorium which he has described as a form of showing responsibility towards the Romanians. The proposal has been rejected by trade unionists, who have ruled out giving up protests if their claims are not met.
In addition to the pressure put by the trade unions, the Liberal Democratic minority government led by Emil Boc forced by the IMF to take a series of measures to be able to comply with certain terms laid down in the stand by loan accord concluded in spring is facing a consolidated opposition, after the Social Democratic Party left the ruling coalition. The former Social Democrat partners have announced they will back the censure motion filed by the National Liberal Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, which was read out in Parliament on Thursday and will be debated next week. A majority negative vote, which is very likely to be cast, given the number of MP seats held by the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, might trigger the fall of the government. Most MPs in opposition think it is high time for a cabinet of technocrats, to take Romania out of recession.
In spite of disputes, the Romanian Parliament voted the new membership of the Board of Directors of the National Bank of Romania, for a 5 year term. Reconfirmed as governor, Mugur Isarescu has referred to his achievements and his new goals:
”The Old Board of Directors managed to reach some of the goals related to Romania’s joining the EU, such as the liberalisation of capital account, in a period marked by temptations and traps, in a nutshell a deceitful period. The main strategic objective of the new Board will be switching to the Euro, around 2014-2015. I think that in spite of the present difficulties, this objective can be reached, it is a daring but achievable project and it can be a catalyst for coherent macro-economic policies.”
The mayor of Bucharest, Sorin Oprescu has officially launched his candidacy for presidency. Oprescu, who will run as an independent, said Romania lacked a head of state to unite his co-nationals. A former Social Democrat Senator, Oprescu ran ( also as an independent) for the position of Bucharest mayor in the summer of 2008. Also this week, the representative of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, Kelemen Hunor, has made public his decision to run for president. The announcements have been made after incumbent president, Traian Basescu, backed by the Liberal Democratic Party, the President of the Senate, Social Democrat Mircea Geoana and the leader of the non-parliamentary, populist Christian Democratic New Generation Party, tycoon Geroge Becali and National Liberal leader Crin Antonescu , at the weekend announced they would run for president.
German writer of Romanian origin, Herta Muller won the 2009 Nobel Prize for literature. She emigrated to Germany in 1987 and settled in Berlin. She is a member of the German Academy for Language and Poetry. Author of 20 volumes, the writer reflects in her books her experiences as a person who was born and grew up in communist Romania of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Recurrent themes in her books include separation, emigration and political repression. In an interview on Radio Romania, Herta Muller said:
“I haven’t conquered the West, I am one of the many writers who are fairly well-known in the Federal Republic of Germany. I have worked hard, I don’t know what else I could say. There are some problems that I am deeply concerned about and that’s all. There are not good themes and bad themes, there are well- written and badly written themes. And I think any theme can be a good one, if you know how to write it properly. I don’t know if I wrote a theme well or not, so it’s not a matter of calculation or decision …it’s something that happens or doesn’t happen. Maybe I’ve been very lucky, I don’t know.”
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