Ordinance to increase President’s, PM’s salaries, causes political scandal in Romania

The Government’s Emergency Ordinance to increase the salaries of 48 high officials in Romania, including the President and Prime Minister, started a top level political scandal in Romania, involving the very people who should have benefited from this raise. The decision determined a chain of “He did it! No, he did it!” public reactions from the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, presidential advisors and other politicians, each trying to shift the responsibility for this decision in the other camp. The Government approved the ordinance on Wednesday, July 8, during the last cabinet meeting led by interim Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, who replaced Prime Minister Victor Ponta during his 26-day medical leave. Oprea then announced that the President, the Prime Minister, the presidents of the Parliament’s chambers and the intelligence service directors, and others, would benefit from this raise, which should apply starting August. He didn’t mention the new salaries, but according to official sources, the President and Prime Minister would have earned some EUR 3,400 net per month, more than two times what they currently make. The President now has a net salary of about EUR 1,400 per month. When asked about this initiative, President Klaus Iohannis said that it was wise that high state officials were paid in accordance to their responsibilities. Some media in Romania then wrote that President Klaus Iohannis was the one who told Oprea to approve the salary increase, quoting sources from Ponta’s Social Democratic Party (PSD). The President’s Chief of Staff, Dan Mihalache, reacted in a TV show saying that it was not true, and that the president had only been informed by interim PM Gabriel Oprea of this intention to increase salaries. He said that PM Victor Ponta also knew about this and that it was Ponta himself who had showed President Iohannis this project in March. Ponta replied in the same TV show saying that he did not agree with increasing the high officials’ salaries at this moment and that this measure should be part of the new public salary law that the Government plans to issue by December. Ponta, who resumed his activity on Friday, July 10, decided to postpone the ordinance’s enforcement. He said that he was informed by interim Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea of this intention and opposed taking this decision at this moment. Gabriel Oprea, Ponta’s governing ally, said on Friday that the project to increase high officials’ salaries came from Victor Ponta and that Ponta had agreed it in principle with President Iohannis. He added, however, that Ponta had some doubts that the President would support this project at the moment. Oprea denied that the President had asked him to pass this ordinance. In the end, this scandal shows that the Government is starting to shake. Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea, whose National Union for Romania’s Progress (UNPR) has been securing the majority in the parliament for Ponta’s social democrat Government, officially says that he continues to support the Government. However, while Ponta was on leave, Oprea’s UNPR voted against PSD and helped the liberal party name former Prime Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu as head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), stirring anger among PSD members. This new scandal may further widen the rift between Oprea and Ponta, which could end up in a change of power by the end of this year, according to some pundits.