A first step towards eliminating special pensions
After 6 years the Romanian MPs have decided to give up the special pensions
Bogdan Matei, 18.02.2021, 14:00
A recent survey on Romanians trust in institutions shows that the hierarchy is dominated by the Church, the Army and the Academy, ending with the Government (trusted by only 13.7% of the respondents), Parliament (9.5%) and political parties (9.1%). From the right or the left of the political spectrum, from power or from the opposition, long-lived or ephemeral in politics, there have been dozens of deputies and senators who were the protagonists of notorious criminal cases. The most famous such politicians are the former speakers of the Chamber of Deputies, the Social Democrats Adrian Năstase and Liviu Dragnea and the liberal Bogdan Olteanu, all three imprisoned on corruption charges.
Switching political parties according to interests, nepotism, incompetence, failure to go to work are some of the sins that the press and public opinion frequently associate with MPs, which actually makes even more unpopular their privileges, namely their high salaries and special pensions that do not actually observe the contribution principle. Introduced in 2015 by the Social Democratic Party-PSD which, at the time, was led by Liviu Dragnea, a very generous person when it came to public money, the MPs’ special pensions were the first category abrogated, on Wednesday, by the Parliament formed after the December 2020 elections. At present, there are about 800 former senators and deputies who receive special pensions, which reach over 10 million Euros cumulatively per year.
The abrogation of special pensions was initiated also by PSD, now in opposition, which, under the leadership of Marcel Ciolacu, is trying to build a new image. Parliament also adopted an amendment proposed by USR PLUS alliance (in the governing coalition), which stipulates that when the law takes effect, the payment of age-limit benefits ceases. The alliance co-president Dan Barna says that eliminating special pensions is a moral victory, the MPs thus “washing away some of their sins.”
The leader of the National Liberal Party – PNL, the main party in the governing coalition, Ludovic Orban, also announced that the current coalition is committed to clarifying and adjusting the entire pension legislation. In an attempt to return to a fair and just system for all pensioners, as the MPs stated during the vote, all political forces, including the ultranationalist opposition party AUR- the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, voted in favor of eliminating MPs’ pensions.
The Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania UDMR (in the governing coalition) abstained from voting, as they claim the move is incomplete and does not also target the other socio-professional categories whose pensions do not observe the contribution principle such as the magistrates, the military, the intelligence service officers and the police. UDMR representatives say they cannot vote superficial decisions which are apparently popular but which do not solve the problem itself. The problem per se, as experts also noticed, is that there are many Romanians who have very high pensions, of over 9 thousand lei (the equivalent of almost 2,000 Euros), many of whom have not reached the retirement age or have not paid the entire retirement contributions, while five million pensioners have pensions worth an average of only 1,500 lei, that is 300 Euros. (tr. L. Simion)
