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Reforms in Romania spur leap of protest
Source: Agencies |
December 24, 2010, Friday
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ROMANIA'S coalition government survived a no-confidence vote over IMF-backed wage reforms as expected yesterday, paving the way for the country to receive fresh loans in January and subsequently strike a new aid deal.
Prime Minister Emil Boc has survived four no-confidence motions this year, allowing his fragile coalition to push ahead with reforms to keep a 20 billion euro (US$26.18 billion) bailout on track, which it says is key to maintain investors' trust and lift the economy out of recession.
"The government survived this motion. There were 247 parliament members present, but no one cast a ballot," Dumitru Pardau, a member of the counting committee said.
Debates were briefly suspended earlier yesterday after a public television employee jumped off the hall's balcony to protest at the government's austerity drive, including wage cuts and tax hikes in the recession-hit economy.
State news agency Agerpres said the man, a father of two in his 40s, was seriously injured.
A loud thud reverberated in the chamber in Bucharest after the man, Adrian Sobaru - identified by the country's public television station as one of its engineers - hit the benches shortly after Boc greeted the lawmakers. No one else was injured.
Boc looked startled and rushed over to Sobaru, along with other lawmakers, before Speaker Mircea Geoana canceled the session.
Photos show Sobaru standing on a balcony about 7 meters above where lawmakers were sitting, before he jumped. More than half a dozen lawmakers watched him fall. The images show Sobaru wearing a white T-shirt, with the words ,"You've pierced us. You've killed our children's future. Freedom," in a reference to government policy.
The first line was a reference to President Traian Basescu, who upon winning the presidential race in 2009 said, "I've pierced them," using a well-known line from a Romanian movie.
As emergency medical workers took him out on a stretcher, Sobaru shouted "Freedom!"
Sobaru sustained facial wounds, and other non life-threatening injuries, said Catalin Carstoiu, manager at the University Hospital. He will undergo surgery and psychological counseling.
Boc called the incident "a tragedy that shocked me," and appealed for calm "in these tough times."
Analysts say the incident showed mounting popular discontent in Romania, the European Union's second poorest member, and opposition to International Monetary Fund-backed cost-cutting measures it says are needed to rein in a vast fiscal gap.
Prime Minister Emil Boc has survived four no-confidence motions this year, allowing his fragile coalition to push ahead with reforms to keep a 20 billion euro (US$26.18 billion) bailout on track, which it says is key to maintain investors' trust and lift the economy out of recession.
"The government survived this motion. There were 247 parliament members present, but no one cast a ballot," Dumitru Pardau, a member of the counting committee said.
Debates were briefly suspended earlier yesterday after a public television employee jumped off the hall's balcony to protest at the government's austerity drive, including wage cuts and tax hikes in the recession-hit economy.
State news agency Agerpres said the man, a father of two in his 40s, was seriously injured.
A loud thud reverberated in the chamber in Bucharest after the man, Adrian Sobaru - identified by the country's public television station as one of its engineers - hit the benches shortly after Boc greeted the lawmakers. No one else was injured.
Boc looked startled and rushed over to Sobaru, along with other lawmakers, before Speaker Mircea Geoana canceled the session.
Photos show Sobaru standing on a balcony about 7 meters above where lawmakers were sitting, before he jumped. More than half a dozen lawmakers watched him fall. The images show Sobaru wearing a white T-shirt, with the words ,"You've pierced us. You've killed our children's future. Freedom," in a reference to government policy.
The first line was a reference to President Traian Basescu, who upon winning the presidential race in 2009 said, "I've pierced them," using a well-known line from a Romanian movie.
As emergency medical workers took him out on a stretcher, Sobaru shouted "Freedom!"
Sobaru sustained facial wounds, and other non life-threatening injuries, said Catalin Carstoiu, manager at the University Hospital. He will undergo surgery and psychological counseling.
Boc called the incident "a tragedy that shocked me," and appealed for calm "in these tough times."
Analysts say the incident showed mounting popular discontent in Romania, the European Union's second poorest member, and opposition to International Monetary Fund-backed cost-cutting measures it says are needed to rein in a vast fiscal gap.
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