Romanian Unionists Resume Protests Tuesday, Call For Resignation Of Govt, President

The unionists, affiliated to the country's five large union confederations, are shouting "Down with Basescu," "Boc, Boc, Boc, here is your resignation" and "Down with the Government."

Nearly 1,000 unionists protested outside Parliament headquarters Monday, the day the Government sought lawmakers' vote for the two laws that make up its austerity plan.

According to union representatives, rallies outside the Parliament are set to continue this week, with some 1,500-2,000 protesters in attendance each day. Protests will be held countrywide Thursday through Saturday, as unionists intend to picket local lawmakers' offices and party headquarters.

The unionists will hold a rally of 20,000 outside Parliament on June 15, the day lawmakers hold a vote on the opposition's no-confidence motion against the Government. On that day, the protesters plan to form a human chain around the building and stage a full-blown strike in all fields of the public sector.

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.

Romania's opposition social democrats on Monday submitted with the Chamber of Deputies a no-confidence motion against the current Cabinet, for which they have also enlisted the liberals' support. The Standing Offices of the Chamber of Deputies and Senate will hold a joint meeting Tuesday for debates on the motion.

At present, the number of social democrats and liberals in Parliament warrant 212 votes in favor of the no-confidence motion. In order to pass, the motion requires 24 more votes "for", which could be elicited from the Parliament representatives of the ruling coalition or from independent lawmakers.

The Romanian Constitution states that if the Government withstands the vote on the no-confidence motion, the draft laws it has submitted are automatically approved and the Cabinet must assume full responsibility for enforcing them.

Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday sought lawmakers' confidence vote for the two laws that make up the Government's austerity plan and warned that Romania risks payment default unless it cuts budget spending.

Boc told lawmakers that the Government's extremely harsh and unpopular measures must be taken and firmly upheld in order to secure the country's present and future. Boc also accused the country's former liberal government of having raised pensions and salaries to economically unsustainable levels.

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