Day and resignation. How the greatest gesture of honor became the cheapest theater in Parliament, at the end of its term

He has seen PSD members and ushers compete to resign from Parliament, only to not receive a special pension. I’m telling you, it’s a completely useless gesture. Even some of the parliamentarians recognize it. The leader of the PNL group in the Senate explained to his colleagues from the PSD and USR why it is an attitude only of image.

If we look at the statute of the deputy and the senator, the famous law 96 that was modified, as you know, in 2015 in article 49 and article 50 establishes that the parliamentarian benefits from the right to a pension for being a parliamentarian. It does not say anywhere in the law that it must be less than a full term.

These provisions appear in the implementing rules, which have less effect than the law. So, the parliamentarians face the following situation: the law says that they receive a special pension, when they reach the necessary age, and the regulations add to the law the fact that they must have a full mandate. In this situation, resignation does not solve anything.

If, let’s say, they make an application when they turn 63 and their application is rejected, they go to court and say, “Sir, the law doesn’t say that. They win in court and they take your money,” said NLP Senator Daniel Fenechiu.

Also read: COMMENT Liviu Mihaiu: If everyone could resign

The Social Democrats say they have not received an order from President Ciolacu to resign en bloc.

“It is a decision of the incumbent parliamentarians and I believe that it is necessary that those who resign from these mandates, the money they save is destined to allowances for children,” said Deputy Sorin Vrăjitoru.

“There is no economy. A big lie,” says Şerban Nicolae, because, in fact, elected officials who resign today would receive these pensions only when they turn 65. Nicolae thinks the whole discussion is pointless-populist.

“If he had wanted to do it without an electoral purpose, and only for his honesty as politicians who do not take pleasure in the benefits of the state budget, he could have done it quietly, after the date of the elections, after December 6.”

However, those who agitated their resignations do not renounce their gesture. And the differences continue.

“It is the image of the old political class. Probably some of these people who are in Parliament today voted in 2015 in favor of the law that establishes special pensions for parliamentarians and you know what it is, once you see yourself with bags in the car, it is difficult to remove them.

What we said is that even tomorrow a plenary session can be organized to vote on this RSU project, which is now in the drawer, to eliminate these special pensions ”, said Cristina Prună, deputy and candidate of the RSU.

PMP MPs are completely against special pensions.

“The special pensions are a robbery. From this point of view, I think that what the politicians have created is a great insult to Romanian citizens, because pensions must be offered according to contributory. Or here we are witnessing an attempt to create certain privileges that divide society and people are justifiably dissatisfied.

All in all, all parliamentarians, regardless of their political color, agree that special pensions should be repealed, ”said Eugen Tomac, president of the PMP.

The UDMR also sees electoral populism in the gesture of resignations en bloc.

Kelemen Hunor says that the only just and correct solution (…) is to erase and repeal all pensions, including pensions for magistrates and pensions for former security guards, officers. “The rest is cheap populism and does absolutely nothing.”