AEI leaders convene in urgent meeting

The Democratic parliamentary group left the assembly hall, expressing thus its dissatisfaction with the fact that no decision on pension raises was adopted. The Parliament took a break. Prime Minister Vlad Filat, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (PLDM), also went to the Palace of the Republic as the Alliance for European Integration (AEI) is to hold an urgent meeting, Info-Prim Neo reports. The Democrats' leader Marian Lupu said in April the governing alliance decided the pensions would be increased towards the end of this year. In July, the Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family proposed a relevant bill that was accepted by all the competent institutions, except for the Ministry of Finance. A meeting was held with representatives of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, where they were familiarized with several solutions allowing raising pensions. “The time has passed. We do not have the draft budget law for next year and the bill to adjust the budget for this year. Nothing is done to solve this problem,” said Marian Lupu. The head of the Liberal-Democratic parliamentary group Mihai Godea said they cannot understand this gesture by the Democrats as they blocked the work of the legislative body. Acting President Mihai Ghimpu, the leader of the Liberal Party, said they need to discuss. He announced a break and called a meeting of the AEI. The leader of the Opposition Vladimir Voronin said the Democratic parliamentary group's action is populist. Communist MP Igor Dodon stressed it is not possible to raise pensions on October 1 or November 1 as the Government does not have money to cover the budget deficit. In today's meeting, the Government adopted a decision to adjust the budget for this year, but it says nothing about pension and salary increases.