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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-09-07
September 7, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] Emergency Ordinance Passed;
[02] Political Leaders React to UDMR Decision to Leave Government;
[03] "It Is the Minimal Cooperation Criteria That Is All About", UDMR
Leader Marko Bela Claims;
[04] SNCFR Trade Union Leader on Finance Minister's Decision to Freeze
Wages.
[01] Emergency ordinance passed
At its session on Saturday, the Romanian Government has approved the
emergency ordinance on debenture collecting for commercial companies
involving the state as shareholders. Such companies are to be sold out
following negotiations with businessmen or directly on capital markets. The
finance minister believes that debenture sales may be part of the
privatisation process in the attempt to force comapnies pay their debts
back but also impose financial discipline. The move is not expected to
affect the inflation while the government is not supposed to include the
debentures into the public debt as the previous governments did. The
Privatisation and Finance Ministries are expected to express their opinion
on the matter at a joint press conference next week. RADOR
[02] Political leaders react to UDMR decision to leave government
Most of Romania's political leaders have reacted to the UDMR's decision to
leave the government unless the Parliament would pass (by September 30) the
amendments to the Education Law as stipulated in the former Ciorbea Cabinet
emergency ordinance allowing the setting up of a university on ethnic
criteria. "The leadership of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
Romania (UDMR) should prove its political skills as it did in the past, and
I believe that goes for the future as well. The party should understand
that its participation in the government answers the interests of both
Romanians and Hungarians, and the interests of the UDMR itself", the leader
of the ruling Christian Democrat National Peasant Party (PNTCD) Ion
Diaconescu said. The president of the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL),
Mircea Ionescu Quintus, has expressed surprise and concern about the UDMR
decision. He said such a decision would be "damaging for both the governing
coalition and the Hungarian minority". The vicepresident of the Democratic
Party (PD), Cristian Dumitrescu, said he was felt sure of both the UDMR's
maturity and wisdom, and the necessary compromise to hold the coalition
together. "I believe that, in the end, the UDMR will make up its mind and
calm down the existing tensions", Mr Dumitrescu concluded. The leader of
the opposition Party of Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR), Ion Iliescu,
believes that all agreements between the UDMR and other uling parties
should be clarified. "The Education Law is the only legal document ensuring
education rights (Hungarian language included) according to the highest
European standards. The setting up of a separate Hungarian language
speaking administrative institution is however neither democratic nor
European, and it is even against the ethnic Hungarian youth", Mr Iliescu
said.
The PD suggests the UDMR should reconsider its decision to levae the
government in case the setting up of a separate Hungarian language teaching
was not approved. In a communique issued to the press, the PD Political
Council says the project is not one of the current legislature's priorities
and all political parties should approximate their own political tasks to
the priorities in the governing programme. According to the PD leadership,
it was only its participation in the government that offered the UDMR the
chance of really expressing itself. According to the PD, the right to rule
also includes the political resposibility to answer all people's needs and
concentrate on the priorities in the governing programme as a whole.
RADOR
In a communique issued to the press, the Romanians' National Unity Party
(PUNR) welcomes the UDMR decision to leave the government because "Romania
was not supposed to be ruled by a party exclusively based on ethnic
criteria". According to the PUNR, "such an obvious political error" should
be urgently eliminated, and the UDMR should be excluded from Romania's
government for good. The UDMR is accused of violating the Romanian law and
Constitution and, consequently, the PUNR rejects any political compromise
the power may reach concerning the setting up of a Hungarian language
teaching university. RADOR
[03] "It is the minimal cooperation criteria that is all about", UDMR
leader Marko Bela claims
Some PNTCD senators have seen the UDMR attitude as a blackmail, but UDMR
leader Marko Bela rejected the accusation claiming that both the former
Ciorbea Cabinet and the current Vasile Government recognised the right of
minorities to mother tongue education. "When a business contract's
compliance is not seen as blackmail, then I do not see why the compliance
with a political contract may be seen like one. It is only the minimal
cooperation criteria within a coalition that is all about. If a coalition
does not comply with the agreements it reached, then on what grounds the
coalition was supposed to rely?", Mr Marko Bela said. RADOR
[04] SNCFR trade union leader on finance minister's decision to freeze
wages
The Romanian Railways (SNCFR) trade unions were surprised by Finance
Minister Daniel Daianu's decision to freeze wagws and indexations by the
end of the year. The minister made the announcement at the end of the
Cabinet meeting on Saturday when a nearly 8 billion lei cut in the Budget
spendings was also announced. But the SNCFR trade unions have signed a
protocol recently and the transport minister has promised a 26% raise in
their wages on October 1. "The big trade union confederations are expected
to negotiate with minister Daianu and, of course, after all the utilities
complete their remaining indexation pay, I am sure that the National Trade
Union Block (BNS), and the SNCFR trade union as one of its members, will
not accept any indexation as long as the standard of living is considerably
declining and the untilities were not devided into new companies allowing
negotiations for new collective employment contracts of a different pay
level", SNCFR leader Voicu Sala said in a statement to the Romanian Service
of the BBC. RADOR
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