Romania’s Basescu urges all parties to tackle issues of national interest

BUCHAREST, Romania — President Traian Basescu invited all parties in Parliament and groups representing minorities to begin discussing issues of national interest on Thursday (May 24th). He said a meeting will be held on Monday to discuss changing elections-related legislation and introducing a majority voting system, amending the constitution and selecting new cabinet members.

In other news Thursday, unions in the energy sector suspended their general strike until June 30th, after tough negotiations with Finance and Economy Minister Varujan Vosganian. The two parties agreed that a strategy for the energy sector should be drawn up by June 10th. Some 15,000 workers walked out on Wednesday to protest that jurisdiction over their companies was transferred from the Economy Ministry to the Authority for State Assets Recovery’s portfolio. (Romania Libera, Nine O’clock – 25/05/07; Mediafax – 24/05/07)