Translated material
“Come out, zhavra!”
Romanian President blasts police
Yesterday, the National Bloc of Trade Unions of Romania resumed the autumn marathon of social protests that began a week ago. Eight thousand public sector workers - administration officials, teachers, doctors, transport workers, as well as peasants and pensioners - took part in the demonstrations that besieged the government building and key ministries.People took to the streets to voice their disagreement with the government's package of tough budget saving measures - including cutting public sector employees' salaries by 25% from August 15 until the end of the year, increasing VAT from 19 to 24%, and plans for mass layoffs. Emil Boc's cabinet was forced to take these measures under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, which stopped funding Romania.
However, workers seriously fear that in 2011 their incomes will not return to their previous levels. The current levels of pensions and other social benefits are under threat. In addition, next year Romania will have to sign a new agreement with the IMF, which requires a further reduction in the budget deficit to 4.4% (currently about 7%) and a reduction in inflation. To achieve all this with the almost zero current growth of the Romanian economy is extremely problematic.
The main slogan that the demonstrators are chanting is “Thieves!” This applies both to the government and to the entire political class of the country. The police, whose demonstration last Friday took an unexpected turn, had a different slogan. The word “zhavra,” as the explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language explains, means a mongrel “lousy” dog or a spineless “nothing” person. This was precisely the word shouted by more than five thousand police officers during a spontaneous rally when, in violation of the route permitted by the Bucharest City Hall, they turned towards the presidential palace. “Come out, you mediocre bastard!” - they chanted. Police caps flew towards the palace onto the asphalt, while some law enforcement officers had service weapons with them.
But President Traian Basescu did not come out to the demonstrators. Instead, he unleashed his wrath on the police; in protest against the anarchy in the ranks of law enforcement officers, the president refused the services of the police traffic service to escort his motorcade until a special trial. “They forgot about the oath and undermined the authority of the state, desecrated the state symbols that they should protect,” the president said with indignation in a special televised address.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vasile Blaga, while admitting that the police broke the law, did not agree that all police officers should be judged by individual people. On Monday, the minister was forced to resign. Members of the government coalition, which includes the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, tried to dissuade him. After all, Minister of Good, who is not holding this post for the first time, enjoys universal authority as an effective manager who prepared Romania for entry into the European Schengen visa-free zone in 2011. His ministry was the only one in the country that fully utilized the funds allocated by the European Union for reforms and restructuring. But the president was adamant.
42-year-old Traian Igas, who headed the Senate faction of the ruling LDP, was appointed as the new minister. He is a lawyer by training, a member of parliament since 2004, and a senator since 2008. He is believed to be close to the mayor of Arad, Gheorghe Falca, whose godfather is President Traian Basescu...
In recent days, the discontent of the masses has been fueled by the adoption by parliament of amendments to the law on pensions. The opposition - Social Democrats and National Liberals - protested these amendments in the constitutional court. His decision is expected today.
The complaints against the new law boil down to the fact that it lowers the basic level of pensions to 39% of the average salary (that is, up to 125 euros) and increases the retirement age for men and women to 65 years (currently for women it is 59 years old, for men - 64 years old). There are also questions about the adoption of the law in the Chamber of Deputies in the absence of a quorum during voting - on this basis, the opposition is demanding the resignation of the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Roberta Anastase. If President Basescu approves a new law on pensions, the Social Democrats are threatening to begin impeachment proceedings. Deputy Speaker of the Senate Dan Voiculescu announced a schedule of further actions: December - removal of the president, March - early parliamentary elections.
In October, the Social Democrats, supported by liberals and some parliamentarians from the ruling coalition, are preparing a vote of no confidence in the government. Romanian political scientists believe that the resignation of the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs could be part of a multi-step combination conceived by President Traian Basescu - he allegedly intends to appoint Vasile Blagu as head of government instead of Emil Boc in order to improve the shabby image of the government. A recent opinion poll showed that amid unemployment, uncertainty about the future and declining real incomes, about 61% of Romanians approve of communism as a “good idea” poorly applied in practice.