Romanian Opp Lawmakers Keep Boycotting Lower Chamber Works

Opposition lawmakers demand Anastase to resign, citing a conflict related to the adoption of the pension bill.

President Traian Basescu recently called for a short-term moratorium on political feuds to unblock activity in Parliament, as dissentions in the Chamber of Deputies have been going on for about two months. Despite the president’s call for reconciliation, no agreement has yet been reached to solve the problem.

The opposition has been boycotting Chamber of Deputies meetings since debates on the country’s IMF-required pension bill late September. Opposition lawmakers said the vote on the bill was rigged and social democrats filed a criminal complaint against Anastase, accusing her of abuse of office and forgery. Social democrat leader Victor Ponta said at the time that video footage of the meeting showed there were no more than 80 lawmakers in the room and the required quorum to pass the bill was not met.