Romanian civil society, represented by the Constitutional Forum, has this week submitted to the Parliamentary Committee for the Revision of the Constitution proposals regarding the modification of the fundamental law. Political parties have, again, different opinions with regard to this topic. While the ruling Social – Liberal Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania want the current, two-chamber Parliament structure to be maintained, the Liberal – Democrats, in opposition, support the proposal for a single-chamber parliament. They also have significantly different opinions regarding the functioning of the relationship between President, Parliament and Government.

The Liberal Democratic Party would like a semi-presidential republic, with a relatively powerful president, as it has been until now. The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians prefers the parliamentary republic, with a President elected by Parliament. The population, however, would like to keep on electing their president as before, so the Social Liberal Union has taken a middle stand: a semi-parliamentary republic with the legislative holding most prerogatives, with a president elected directly by citizens, but who, however, would have no say in appointing the Prime-Minister. The Parliamentary Committee for the Revision of the Constitution will start debates right away, in order to be able to draw up, by late June, a draft law. The Senate’s vote is expected this summer while that of the Chamber of Deputies in September. The final stage is the referendum.

A lower threshold for the referendum

The opposition Liberal Democratic Party will challenge at the Constitutional Court the main amendment to the Referendum Law, according to which the participation threshold was lowered from 50 to 30%. At the same time, the results will only be validated if 25% of the registered votes are Yes votes. The amendment was adopted by the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday. The Liberal-Democrats warn, however, that the new provisions bring restrictions to the right to vote. On the other hand, the Social-Liberals say that the new provisions were formulated in keeping with the recommendations made by the Constitutional Court, which had recommended a single set of conditions for the organization and running of referendums, irrespective of their stake.

Smaller salaries for the directors of state-owned companies

The Romanian Government has set salary ceilings for directors and managers of state-owned companies, which, in some cases exceeded 10 thousand Euros per month. The maximum salary they will be able to get will be only 6 times bigger than the average salary in the branch. The decision was made on the same day when the executive published a list of these people’s salaries. The best paid was the Director of the Romanian Railway Company, with 14,500 Euros per month, followed by the Director of the Romanian Post, with 14,300 Euros. Now bankrupt, with over 150 million Euros worth of debts and loses of 12 million Euros, the Post is on the Government’s privatization list. The government had to extend the privatization deadline by another six months, as the company has not yet managed to attract any investors. The Romanian Postal Service is the biggest operator of postal services in the country, with over 32 thousand employees.

Romanian authorities terminate disadvantageous contract with Bechtel

The contract signed with the Ameriacn Company Bechtel for the building of the Transylvania Motorway has been terminated, and the Romanian state will pay the US company 37.2 million Euros in damages. Adding to this are 50 million in debt. The highway, designed to be 425 km long was to start from near Brasov, in the center, to reach Oradea, on the western border with Hungary.
Since 2003 when the contract was signed, Bechtel has cashed in roughly one billion and a half euros, in exchange for only a 52-kilometer segment of motorway. In another major project, namely the A1 motorway linking Bucharest, Pitesti, Sibiu, Arad and Nadlac, part of the fourth PanEuropean corridor, a 32 km motorway segment between Deva-Orastie has been inaugurated this week. The construction took two years to complete and half of the costs have been covered from European funds.

Romania and the excessive deficit procedure

The European Commission has made public its annual recommendations, which will hopefully enable some of the EU countries to come out of the financial crisis and gradually attain economic growth. Brussels has proposed the abrogation for Romania of the excessive deficit procedure, which means that Bucharest is complying with the golden rule of European finances. From 9% of the GDP in 2009, the deficit last year stood at 2.9%, and the government estimates further cuts to 2.6% this year and 2.4% the next year. The European Commission proposal of canceling de excessive deficit procedure comes along with a series of recommendations, such as the completion of the financial assistance programme, agreed upon with the EU and the IMF, securing fiscal consolidation, that may foster economic growth, carrying on reforms in the healthcare and education systems, as well as the implementation of the national strategy on the social inclusion of Roma people.

The Republic of Moldova has a new government

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hailed the confidence vote the Moldovan Parliament granted to the government headed by pro-European leader Iurie Leanca. According to a communiqué issued by the Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, the new cabinet in Chisinau is a guarantee for the development and deepening of the special relationship between Romania and the ex-soviet Republic of Moldova, with a Romanian-speaking majority. Bucharest has reiterated its staunch support for the European integration of the Republic of Moldova. The Republic of Moldova was confronted with a political crisis sparked off by the dismissal, by a no-confidence vote, of the government headed by Vlad Filat.

Romania has a new football champion

Romanian football side Steaua Bucharest together with thousands of fans on Tuesday celebrated the winning of the Romanian championship. The festivities started on the National Arena, the largest football stadium in Romania, where the champions were handed T-shirts, medals and trophies. The footballers and other staffers later mounted on an unroofed bus and left for a heroes’ welcome in the Constitution Square in downtown Bucharest, where more than 15 hundred people lit up torches and were chanting hymns to the victors.