The reform of magistrates' pensions remains one of the issues creating tensions in the coalition. The Constitutional Court ruled that the law that Prime Minister Bolojan is unconstitutional on October 20. The government is waiting for the reasons for the decision, the PSD is asking for the formation of a working group, and the president Nicușor Dan wants the problem to be solved as soon as possible.
The interim president of the PSD said on Monday in the Parliament that he will again ask for the formation of a working group, even if he was refused twice already by the other members of the coalition.
The group, as Grindeanu explains, aims to dialogue with the magistrates, to come up with a law that the coalition can accept or not, “because it is a political decision”.
“I think that tomorrow, if not today, it will be two weeks since the CCR's decision to reject that law, and for two weeks we have been moving forward. Instead, the November 28 deadline remains,” he said.
November 28 is the deadline imposed by the European Commission by which the reform of magistrates' pensions must be adopted. Government officials tried to extend the deadline, but failed.
The president of the Senate, Mircea Abrudean (PNL), close to Ilie Bolojan, also declared on Monday that from a discussion he had a few days ago with the prime minister, it emerged that he is willing to negotiate the transition period, but not the amount of the pension.
“From the discussions I had with the prime minister, I understood that there is flexibility during the transition period, to exceed the 10 years. Regarding the amount, I understood that there is no,” said Abrudean.
In response, Sorin Grindeanu declared himself upset by the fact that the prime minister agrees with the negotiation of the provisions of the law.
“Do we no longer go by the fact that we must not negotiate, that we do not negotiate pensions, that there are no other categories? Do we no longer go by this idea? Is it no longer valid? I am at least opposed at this moment, because about 10 days ago, when I had a meeting without discussing any details related to transition periods, the amount and everything else, I was attacked, axed, if you will, in all ways, that I negotiate with the Justice and do this and that, not doing this,” said the PSD president, referring to the meeting he had with the representatives of the magistrates.
Who has to pay if we lose money?
After several PSD leaders, including Sorin Grindeanu, declared that if Romania loses 231 million lei because it did not implement the magistrates' pension reform, Bolojan must pay politically.
“If he is stubborn (ed. Ilie Bolojan) to go the same way, with the same law that has already been declared unconstitutional and which we know will be declared unconstitutional, and does not accept another form of law, then he must politically assume this and leave. If by November 28, when that deadline is that makes us lose European funds, this law does not pass, automatically someone must politically assume this failure, that the European funds were lost”, declared Lia Olguța Vasilescu on October 28.
Then, Sorin Grindeanu gave right to Olgutea Vasilescu and said in a press conference that if out of “unmeasured pride” the law will fall again to the CCR, someone has to pay.
Instead, Abrudean said on Monday that Ilie Bolojan has no reason to go home and that those who postpone the decision are the ones who will have to pay:
“Ilie Bolojan has no reason to go home as long as he was the main supporter of this law which was indeed declared unconstitutional by the CCR. The Prime Minister comes with another legislative proposal, we hope as soon as possible, which will have to be supported. All those who are guilty of the lack of decision and firmness in such a sensitive subject. We will see who they are at the time. The Prime Minister was as clear as possible. Both in intention and in the principles he promoted, so I don't think there is any reason for the prime minister to be responsible for such a failure,” said the president of the Senate.
At the same time, according to HotNews information, President Nicușor Dan wants the problem to be solved as quickly as possible, but does not rule out the risk of losing European money.
What options does the Government have?
It is expected that the Court's reasoning, which Prime Minister Bolojan is waiting for, will come this week. On the one hand, Ilie Bolojan wants to resume the whole process in order to re-engage his responsibility for the reform in the Parliament. This time, however, he will wait for the opinion from the CSM. In a press release, CCR conveyed that the Government has the obligation to wait for the opinion of the Supreme Council of Magistracy, for the issuance of which the CSM had 30 days at its disposal, according to the law.
The second option is the adoption of the reform through the engagement of liability, whereby the project proposed by the Government cannot be modified. If it is submitted to the Parliament, it must go through the specialized committees until it reaches the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate. Which means that the bill can be changed if the MPs' amendments are accepted in the committees.
Tomorrow, the subject of magistrates' pensions will be discussed again tomorrow, in the coalition meeting at 14:00.
