Romanian Parliament Starts Confidence Vote Meeting 45 Minutes Late

Chamber of Deputies speaker Roberta Anastase said the meeting is attended by 380 lawmakers, while 91 are absent, but quorum is met.

Liberal lawmaker Eugen Nicolaescu said liberals prefer not to attend the meeting and work on challenging the laws for which the Government requires a confidence vote today.

Some of the lawmakers of the Social Democratic Party, part of the ruling coalition, wear white armbands in protest over the government’s plan to pass the law on education and out of solidarity with unions in the education sector.

The law on education was lengthily discussed and the government met again Monday evening to decide which amendments to accept.

The government accepted slightly over 120 amendments to the three draft laws it wants enacted, less than 5% of the 2,680 amendments proposed by lawmakers.