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Romanian Opposition Initiates Bill To Scrap Lawmakers’ Privileged Pensions

Romanian social democrat, liberal and Hungarian minority lawmakers have initiated a bill to amend the statute of lawmakers and eliminate their privileged high pensions, social democrat leader Mircea Geoana said Wednesday.
Romanian Opposition Initiates Bill To Scrap Lawmakers’ Privileged Pensions
14 oct. 2009, 16:49, English

Geoana added he will ask all parliament parties to work together and have a pension law ready by December.

Romania’s democrat liberal Prime Minister Emil Boc, whose minority government lost a confidence vote in Parliament Tuesday, accused the opposition of trying to dodge an IMF-required pension reform, which would lower pensions for lawmakers.

Under a EUR19.5 billion IMF-led loan agreement, Romania has pledged to drastically cut back on public spending and reform its public pension system. The country has undertaken to revise pension laws until December 31 through measures meant to index pensions to the inflation, limit the scope for discretionary pension increases and gradually adjust the retirement age, particularly for women, according to the IMF agreement.

Boc was planning to ask a confidence vote in Parliament to enact a pension law that increases retirement age and eliminates special pensions that aren’t tied to people’s contributions, such as those of lawmakers, magistrates, military, law enforcement and intelligence services staff. The bill sets that all special pensions will be recalculated depending on people’s contributions, which means they would be reduced.