Former Justice Minister Prună criticizes special pensions, says last year was a contest for increases. Basescu blames Ponta

Former Justice Minister Raluca Pruna claims that last year, in parliament, a ‘contest for increasing the special pensions’ took place, and also to increase the allowances that the current government wants to put an end to.

“We have to put an end to the special pensions, the system is falling apart. The child-raiding allowances will be capped at EUR 1,800. Any sign from the opposition? No acolyte of Soros in sight? This is the new governmental lamentation from Olguta and Calin. You needed 7 months to discover hot water?” Pruna wrote on her Facebook page, criticizing the current government.

The former justice minister says the ones trying to put an end to special pensions are “the same ones that last year had contests to promise the moon for free.”

“Last year in Parliament it was a contest to increase the special pensions, to invent new ones, to raise the allowance for child-raising – some PSD deputies said it should have no limit, to cut 100 taxes against any reasonable calculation which would have led to negative results,” Pruna wrote.

She said she is terrified of the ongoing situation and that no one can compete with “unlimited electoral lies.”

“It would be interesting to write the history of establishing the special pensions, to retiring at 40, of inventing increases for doctoral schools, bonuses for smiles, milk, for coming back from holiday, for antennas, for dust, generally for building up the addiction on the benevolence of the political class. There’s always about PSD and en passant about liberal PM Tariceanu in the years of crisis 2008-2009. No one can compete with such issues – unlimited electoral lies and with the support of institutions which should censure major skidding (the Constitutional Court for example),” Raluca Pruna wrote.

Traian Basescu blames Ponta governance for the special pensions

PMP chairman Traian Basescu, former president of the country, said the special pensions was set up by Victor Ponta and Gabriel Oprea, “they took money, shamelessly, from the employees less paid” to give to the categories they favoured. PSD mocked the budget in order to win people’s sympathy.

Basescu claims Victor Ponta reinforced the special pensions system with aberrant criteria for raising pensions.

“In 2015, PM Victor Ponta, demagogically and out of stupidity, reintroduced the special pensions system on aberrant criteria, leading to the situation today to pensions of more than RON 45,000. Ponta, Oprea, PSD have set up a special regime for the military, aviators, diplomats and other categories part of their political clientele, by shamelessly taking money from the less paid employees to give them to the favoured categories,” the PMP leader said.

He stressed that PSD has built the inequity of the pension system in order to win the electorate’s sympathy.

At present, Romania pays over 8,000 special pensions to former diplomats, airmen, court clerks, auditors of the Court of Accounts or military magistrates. The highest pension is cashed in by a former magistrate, who gets over RON 40,000 per month, followed by a former aviator, RON 39,000.