Romania’s Chamber of Deputies in plenary meeting Tuesday adopted an amendment to the institution’s Standing Office rulebook setting that decisions can be made with the votes of the majority of office members present and no longer require quorum. This change renders futile the opposition’s boycott on standing office meetings which has been going on for two months.
Opposition social democrats and liberals have been boycotting Chamber of Deputies meetings since late September, when lawmakers adopted an IMF-required pension bill. Opposition lawmakers said the vote on the bill was rigged and they filed a criminal complaint against Chamber Speaker Roberta Anastase, accusing her of abuse of office and forgery.
The bill amending the Chamber’s rulebook was debated and voted in the absence of opposition lawmakers who left the plenary meeting Tuesday in protest to Anastase.