The pension law back to parliament

Romania’s President, Traian Basescu, on Thursday surprised everyone by sending back to parliament the controversial law regulating the single pension system, which had earlier been validated by the Constitutional Court.

As the court didn’t contest the law, the Social-Democratic and Liberal opposition received the result they were looking for from where they least expected it.

The president found only one weak point in the draft, namely a provision on stabilising the retirement age for both men and women at 65.

The president evoked the difficult condition of women in Romania and suggested that the legislature “lower” the retirement age for women to 63 years, in total contradiction of his earlier support for equalizing the retirement age for men and women.

This twist has led his Liberal opponents to suggest that President Traian Basescu was actually afraid that the opposition would have tried to start impeachment procedures if he had promulgated the pension law.

The Social Democratic Party believes that Basescu’s decision practically sanctions the alleged fraud committed by the government during the voting session in the Chamber of Deputies.

They hold the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies responsible for this fraud, Liberal Democrat Roberta Anastase.

In turn, the Liberal Democratic Party has expressed readiness to satisfy the wish of the president, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, also in power, note that it has always favoured the versions according to which women should retire earlier.

The other provisions, which radically change the pensions system, will remain untouched. They include the contribution principle, the elimination of special pensions for certain professional categories, and the correlation of pensions with the inflation rate and not with the minimum salary, as was demanded by the trade unions, who oppose the law’s introduction.

The press has passed much comment on the president’s decision, underling his clever move to get out of a difficult situation, while risking being accused of inconsistency.

By refusing to promulgate the pension law, the president has managed to split an alliance which started to create problems, the pro-president daily Evenimentul Zilei writes.

Romania libera says the president’s gesture is tantamount to punishing the undemocratic practices in the chamber, which will deepen the visible gap between the president and the Liberal Democratic Party.

The daily Gandul refuses to overlook what it calls the president’s insolence, whose move runs counter not only to what he supported two weeks ago, but also to the European recommendation on equalizing the retirement age for women and men.