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RADOR: News from Romania, 98-02-10
February 10, 1998
CONTENTS
[01] New Ministers Validated
[02] President of the PNTCD Governing Party Thinks that the Political
Crisis Has Ended
[03] New PNTCD Legal Measures to Simplify the Lifting of Parliamentary
Immunity Procedures
[04] PAR Draft Law on Media Freedom of Speech
[05] PRM to Sign a Cooperation Agreement with the Funar Wing of the PUNR
[06] WEU Assembly President Reiterates the Support for Romania's
Integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic Structures
[07] IMF Chief Negotiator Poul Thomsen Arrives in Bucharest
[08] Finance Minister Daniel Daianu about His Future Talks with the IMF
Chief Negotiator
[01] New Ministers Validated
Special comissions in the Romanian Senate and the House of Deputies have
approved the candidacies of the new ministers the Prime Minister Victor
Ciorbea has nominated. Here are the names of the new ministers recently
validated: Ioan Muresan, candidate as minister for relations with the
Parliament, Anton Ionescu, candidate as transport minister, Horia Ene,
candidate as minister of research and technology, Constantin Dudu Ionescu,
candidate as national defence minister, Romica Tomescu, candidate as
minister of waters, forests and environment protection. Ioan Muresan
expressed during the hearings his intentions to reshape Government -
Parliament relations putting an end to "the wave of Government emergency
ordinances". Mr Muresan said that, in 1997, the reform could not go forward
as fast as the Government ordinaces were issued, and therefore, such
ordinaces were unjustified. In his turn, the future transport minister said
he intended to push ahead the reform in the field and, in this respect, he
highly appreciated the measures his predecessor Traian Basescu has taken.
Romica Tomescu said he intended to finalise the restructuring process of
the National Forests Authority and Romanian Waters Authority. He also
promised to draw up new strategies and start a development programme in the
Danube Delta, the same source concluded. RADOR, February 10
[02] President of the PNTCD Governing Party Thinks that the Political
Crisis Has Ended
Ion Diaconescu, the President of the Christian-Democrat National Peasant
Party (PNTCD), said one can consider that the political crisis has ended as
a document on relations within the governing coalition was signed and the
PD ministers were replaced. Mr Diaconescu, who was speaking at a press
conference organised by his party, added that, though further disputes
could not be prevented, the agreement provides the feeling of stability.
According to the same source, he stressed that PNTCD was in favour of a 5%
threshold for entering the Parliament instead of 3%. RADOR, February 10
[03] New PNTCD Legal Measures to Simplify the Lifting of Parliamentary
Immunity Procedures
The PNTCD Vicepresident Gabriel Tepelea has announced that his party will
take new measures to simplify the lifting of parliamentary immunity
procedures and unify regulations in both Houses of the Parliament. The
statement was made at a PNTCD press conference on Monday. In his opinion,
only 51% of the votes should be enough to lift the Pimmunity of an MP. As
far as the Parliament regulations are concerned, Mr Tepelea said there
should be only one operational statute to stipulate how the joint sessions
should be coordinated.
[04] PAR Draft Law on Media Freedom of Speech
A draft law on media freedom of speech was presented on Monday by the
Romanian Alternative Party (PAR) in the House of Deputies. PAR First
Vicepresident Adrian Iorgulescu, who is also the author of the draft law,
said that his party's initiative was more permissive than the one the
Government has drawn up. Mr Iorgulescu hopes that both documents will be
discussed simultaneously so that a balanced draft law could be issued as a
result. During the PAR press conference on Monday, Vicepresident Iorgulescu
has announced that a new TVR and SRR (Romanian Television and Romanian
Broadcasting Corporation) Administration Council will be elected this week
through the mediation commission in the Romanian Senate and House of
Deputies. RADOR, February 10
[05] PRM to Sign a Cooperation Agreement with the Funar Wing of the PUNR
A cooperation agreement between Greater Romania Party (PRM) and the Funar
wing of the Romanians' Party of National Unity (PUNR) will be signed at the
PRM headquarters on Wednesday. In an interview with RADIO ROMANIA
ACTUALITATI, PRM leader Corneliu Vadim Tudor said: "The document stipulates
some joint actions: on one hand, the promotion of a joint strategy both
inside and outside the Parliament aimed at dismissing the current
Government and eventually setting up a Government of national unity; on the
other hand, we think that a Government of technocrats could be nominated in
order to prepare early elections in October 1998 at the latest. The PRM
leader added that, later this year, his party and the Funar wing of the
PUNR intend to outlaw the breakaway, unconstitutional and horthyst party of
the UDMR (Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania) whose main task
is to destroy the integrity of the Romanian national state". RADOR,
February 10
[06] WEU Assembly President Reiterates the Support for Romania's
Integration into the European and Euro-Atlantic Structures
In his address to the Romanian Senate on Monday, WEU Assembly President
Luis Maria de Puig has stressed that his institution is ready to intensify
Romania's participation in the WEU projects. In his turn, Senate Speaker
Petre Roman has explained that the WEU "was seeking to extend the
atributions of our representatives within the organisation, which means
that there will be more Romanian delegates who could join WEU departments
they could not enter until now such as the departments of military palnning,
the military commission, and departments of military training". "I have
come to Romania with a message to the Romanian people: Europe did not
forget Romania. WEU Assembly MPs as well as the WEU as a whole have
repeatedly expressed their support for Romania's integration into the
European and Euro-Atlantic structure", Mr De Puig added, stressing that his
institution supports "Romania's integration into NATO" and her EU accession
process. At the same time, WEU Assembly President has urged the Romanian
authorities to continue their programme of reform in order to improve her
image of political and economic stability in the West. RADOR, February 10
[07] IMF Chief Negotiator Poul Thomsen Arrives in Bucharest
IMF Chief Negotiator for Romania Poul Thomsen is coming to Bucharest next
Monday to examine with the Romanian authorities the progress of economic
reform last year and future plans for 1998. If the results prove to be good,
the IMF could grant another 80 million dollar loan. The Romanian
representative with the IMF Eugen Radulescu said that Mr Thomsen would try
to persuade the Romanian authorities to take into account tough measures
aimed at cutting the budget deficit and inflation. Such tasks could not be
achieved without a reform of loss making industries and the restructuring
of autonomous economic bodies. RADOR, February 10
[08] Finance Minister Daniel Daianu about His Future Talks with the IMF
Chief Negotiator
"The visit of the IMF team to Bucharest is absolutely normal because the
IMF officials should be informed about our programme and we should discuss
it. You can see that I do not use the word 'negotiation' but 'discussion'.
I think that, structurally, our programme will be accepted and our IMF
counterparts will approve it in order to present a genuine programme, and
not a draft project, to the Parliament. We should also adopt the the Law of
the 1998 budget, and then we should continue our work", the Romanian
Finance Minister Daniel Daianu said. RADOR, February 10
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