The collective leadership, or National Council, of the Conservative Party, junior member in the four-party ruling coalition, decided Sunday to continue to stay in office.
The council voted 332 for, and 23 against the decision to leave its partners; however, the conservatives agreed would opt out of government in six months if its partners would not comply with a set of requirements. It also nominated Bogdan Pascu as the partyâs candidate for deputy-PM.
The requirements set forth by the conservatives to their coalition partners were to renegotiate the political protocol founding the ruling coalition; to make the coalition work at local level too; and to support the draft laws advanced by the conservatives.
The list of laws or amendments to existing laws conservatives want passed in Parliament aim to confiscate wealth amassed illegally by individuals; to lower the VAT for food products at 9% from the current 19%; to give tax breaks for reinvested profit and tax micro-enterprises with 1.5%, not the 16% planned in a Government amended Fiscal Code; to adopt a winner-takes-all electoral system and assign local representation for Romanians in communities where they are an ethnic minority; and to amend the public pension system.
Conservative Party leader Dan Voiculescu voiced in his speech some of the issues which make his party want to part with its political partners.
They are "excessively arrogant" and "have total disregard for the laws conservatives want passed in Parliament;" while they "take for granted the conservativesâ votes supporting their political initiatives," said he.
"When we want our draft laws adopted we suddenly turn to them into a petty, immoral, and insignificant party." Voiculescu said. He also confirmed that he talked with "all the important decision-makers in Romanian politics," when asked if he consulted PM Cal
