Minister of Health has resigned

Minister of Health Cseke Atilla announced his resignation during a press conference, expressing his discontentment concerning the manner in which the budget rectification had been done.

"No debate had taken place and the Minister of Health had not been previously consulted on the subject of budget rectification and this fact is extremely serious", Cseke Atilla declared during a press conference held on Thursday.

Asked if the Prime Minister had accepted his resignation, Cseke Atilla stated that Emil Boc had asked him to remain in his function.

Cseke Atilla stated that it was only on Wednesday, at 2 p.m., that he had received the budget rectification project and that the Minister of Health had not been consulted on this subject, fact which he qualified as being "extremely serious".

Cseke Atilla specified that he had also expressed his discontentment during the Government meeting on Wednesday and that, on Thursday, he had had a meeting with Prime Minister Emil Boc, to whom he had handed his resignation.

At the same time, Cseke Atilla also stated that during his mandate, he had had multiple disputes with the representatives of the Ministry of Public Finances.

"This is a problem of attitude towards the health care system, since it does not produce anything. I have seen this attitude within the Ministry of Public Finances and it must disappear", Minister Cseke Atilla specified.

According to Cseke Atilla, the health care system should not function on numbers, but on the fact that it saves lives.

Prime Minister Emil Boc announced on Wednesday, after the Government meeting, that the budget of the health care system had been supplemented with RON 300 million and RON 150 million would be added to the from the Reserve Fund in order to be allocated to the Ministry of Health and to the National Health Insurance House, immediately after "the first steps established on the line of the reform are taken".

Cseke Atilla expressed his hope that the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) would find, in the shortest time possible, a replacement for him, emphasizing the fact that the reforms commenced in the health system must be continued.

A Government press release shows that Cseke Atilla will continue to exert, for maximum 15 days, the function of Minister of Health.

Cseke Atilla was appointed Minister of Health by UDMR on 18 December 2009.
He has been a UDMR member since 1997.

Translated by: Mădălina Borcău
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University