Surprise move: President sends pension law back to Parliament

President Traian Băsescu has caught the opposition unawares, after opposition leaders had predicted his suspension from office and then his dismissal following a referendum, but put his own government in a difficult position yesterday when he decided to send the uniform pension law back to Parliament.
The decision caught all the President’s rivals and opponents off guard. The head of state announced he would make a statement to the press at 15:00, with opposition leaders being quick to announce press statements one hour later. There was no doubt among the opposition that the President would announce the promulgation of the law that introduced an equal retirement age for women and men, at 65. The PSD (Social Democratic Party) was set to announce the start of proceedings to suspend the head of state from office. Parliament would have only required 20 more votes to suspend the President (half the number of parliamentarians plus one, i.e. 236 votes).
The strategy fell through by the President’s decision, who asked Parliament that women retire at 63 instead of 65. The equalisation of the retirement age had, however, been strongly endorsed by the Government, which cited as arguments that all across the European Union there is a tendency towards equalisation of the retirement age in the name of equal treatment of women and men.