Thousands Of Romanian Unionists Rally In Support Of Opp No-Conf Motion Outside Parl HQ

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, are chanting anti-Government and anti-presidential slogans, banners in hand. They are handing out flyers, encouraging lawmakers to vote in favor of the no-confidence motion. Protesters continue to arrive at the three protest meeting points in the vicinity of Parliament headquarters.

The protesters announced that a human chain will be formed around the building, protesters will be posted in front of all four entrances to the building, and they will watch the no-confidence motion vote live on four outdoor screens. The protest is scheduled to take place from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., and protesters have said they will "storm in on the lawmakers" if the motion is rejected. Several traffic police officers, gendarmerie intervention vehicles and some 20 gendarmes are present at the scene.

A group of protesters attempted to break into the Parliament building, but did not manage to break down the door and flung water at the police officers guarding the entrance. The conflict was quickly suppressed. Demonstrators later broke the human chain and blocked traffic on streets near the Parliament Palace, prompting police to close the streets to car traffic.

Hundreds of non-protesters have gathered on the other side of the street to watch the protest. Some bystanders have tried to join in the rally.

Around 10:00 a.m., Prime Minister Emil Boc arrived at Parliament headquarters to attend the vote.

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.

Democrat liberal deputies Daniel Oajdea and Teo Trandafir have announced they will vote in favor of the motion. Oajdea was excluded from the party Monday, while Trandafir said Monday that she will "definitely" be dismissed from the party for not conforming to its policies.

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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