The Romanian Senate on February 9 rejected all three simple motions filed by the opposition against the ministers of foreign affairs, education, and defense in the government led by prime minister Ilie Bolojan, according to RFI.
The motion against foreign affairs minister Oana Țoiu targeted the EU–Mercosur Agreement, which the opposition claimed Romania had endorsed without sufficient internal negotiations. The motion was rejected after a secret electronic vote: out of 115 senators present, 38 voted in favour, 52 against, and 25 abstained.
The initiative was submitted by the Peace – Romania First group (formed by former POT members and other small isolationist parties) together with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). The authors argued that the government backed the agreement without a genuine parliamentary debate and without a proper assessment of its impact on the Romanian economy.
Before the vote, prime minister Ilie Bolojan said that the signatories of the motion were doing what they had done for years, namely “sowing fear among those who do not know the details”, adding that they either do not understand the subject or act deliberately. The prime minister stressed that the EU–Mercosur Agreement provides for strict and frequent controls on food products imported from Mercosur countries, to ensure compliance with the same high-quality standards applied within the European Union.
On the same day, the Senate also rejected the motion on education, entitled “Education between failure and abandonment. How students are transformed into budgetary collateral”, filed by the opposition against the interim minister of education, prime minister Ilie Bolojan himself. The vote resulted in 44 votes in favour, 74 against, and two abstentions.
The third motion, targeting defense minister Radu Miruță, was likewise rejected, with 44 votes “for” and 73 “against”.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Mălina Norocea)
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