(story to be published in tomorrow's issue, March 16)
Coalition leaders on Tuesday agreed on prioritising the budget law and the laws on the privatisation of former state-owned agricultural enterprises, on the restitution of nationalised real estate, on universal pensions funds and insurance against labour accidents, so that they can be passed in Parliament. As to responsibility assumption for the laws on Justice reform, initiated by Valeriu Stoica, leaders did not issue any decision in this sense and the sealing of an accord by the five parties was postponed until after the meeting of the Democrat Party's (PD) Coordination Council, to take place on Friday. While one week ago signing a protocol of legislative priorities was a condition for the replacement of Victor Babiuc from the position of head of the Defence Ministry (MApN), on Tuesday it had become a mere possibility. PN?CD secretary general Remus Opris announced it "was likely" that a document should be drafted at the level of the coalition, to be signed by all party leaders during the meeting of the coalition, scheduled for the beginning of next week. According to Opris, the coalition commission will be constituted at the beginning of next week and will discuss the possibility of introducing an electoral threshold for county councilors elections as well, of cutting down by 20% the number of local and county councilors and of setting up a permanent Electoral Bureau that should start functioning ahead of local elections. The law on local elections could be amended, according to Opris, through an emergency ordinance, in case Parliament should not have the time to adopt it. The coalition might as well decide to raise from 100,000 to 200,000 the minimal number of signatures a person needs to run for President. Discussion stumbled upon the adoption, through responsibility assumption, of the package of laws on Justice reform, proposed by Valeriu Stoica. Remus Opris on Tuesday said that the Government's assuming responsibility was "just one of the methods" through which laws could be adopted but specified that first there must be a guarantee that all coalition parties' points of view are harmonised. There will be debates on this package of laws at the level of parliamentary groups within the coalition, Opris also said. Traian Basescu on Monday stated that the accord of the coalition on the Government's assuming responsibility "on 700 pages referring to the judiciary system" is "unlikely." PDSR (Party of Social Democracy) vice-president Ioan Mircea Pascu on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of his party's accepting the procedures proposed by Stoica for "the modification of 16 laws." He mentioned "differences" between the position of Ion Iliescu, who definitely rejected an accord being reached with the minister of Justice on this issue and that of Adrian Nastase, who said he was willing to negotiate their adoption, but not through the Government's assuming responsibility. PNL (Liberal Party) insists on the Government assuming responsibility in Parliament for the package of laws on Justice reform and Valeriu Stoica stated that the Government needs to assume responsibility for all these laws, for their "coordination." PNL vice-president Puiu Hasotti stated that the decision made on Tuesday by coalition leaders means "yielding to PD's blackmail." He said that PN?CD, PNL, PSDR (Social Democrat Party) and UDMR (Democrat Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) should have never agreed to re-discuss the protocol they had signed last week.
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