Romanian Unionists Cease Protests Outside Parliament, Rallies To Follow If Austerity Plan Approved

National Union Bloc leader Dumitru Costin called on the remaining 300 protesters to cease Tuesday's protests and assured them street protests will follow in the upcoming days if the Parliament rejects the no-confidence motion against the austerity plan proposed by the Government.

Traffic police representative Daniel Pistea said car traffic on the boulevard near Parliament headquarters was resumed at 3.45 p.m. after the police had to shut down the streets in the area.

About a dozen people needed medical attention after they got sick because of the heat or sprained their limbs in the crowd. Protesters burned effigies of Government ministers and blocked the streets near the Parliament building, after they had initially formed a human chain in the nearby park.

Thousands of Romanian unionists gathered Tuesday morning outside Parliament headquarters in capital Bucharest in a show of support for the opposition's no-confidence motion, which lawmakers put to the vote Tuesday.

Civil servants, postal workers, healthcare workers, education unionists and members of other federations have linked arms to form the human chain. The protesters, who have arrived from all over the country, chanted anti-Government and anti-presidential slogans, banners in hand. They handed out flyers, encouraging lawmakers to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion.

The Romanian Government has devised an austerity plan made up of two laws, which stipulate a 25% cut of public sector wages and a 15% pension cut. The plan should help the recession-hit country bring its economy on track and convince the International Monetary Fund to disburse further installments of the EUR20 billion rescue package agreed on last year.

Last week, Boc sought the Parliament's confidence vote on the two laws and now faces a no-confidence motion, initiated by the social democrat-conservative alliance and backed by the liberals. The motion was read during last Wednesday's joint plenary assembly of Parliament. The debate on the motion started Tuesday at 10 a.m., and will be followed by a secret ballot.

Social democrat head Victor Ponta said Monday that all the lawmakers in the party will cast their ballot openly, and will try to persuade all democrat liberal, independent and minority Hungarian members of Parliament to vote for the motion.

Passing the no-confidence motion would require the favorable vote of 236 out of 471 lawmakers. Romania's ruling liberal democrats have 178 senators and deputies, while fellow coalition members, the minority Hungarians, have 31 lawmaker seats. Opposition social democrats, conservatives and liberals hold a total of 212 seats in Parliament.

On June 3, union federation representatives announced a rally of 20,000 outside Parliament to be held on the day of the no-confidence motion vote.

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