The Minister of Labor, Florin Manole, announced that the one-off aid package proposed by the PSD also includes military retirees with incomes below 3,000 lei. The proposal arouses controversy in the Coalition, USR announcing that it will not support changes to the budget law.
The Minister of Labor explained that the package intended for pensioners also covers the military and MAI employees, who did not benefit from support last year. “Now we believe that it is absolutely legitimate and necessary that pensioners who have low incomes, regardless of which occupational family they come from, should benefit from this support“, declared Manole.
The money for military pensioners would be allocated by the Ministry of Defence. Manole added: “I think that the Minister of Defense, whatever he is called, must vote to support military pensioners who have pensions below 3,000 lei. They are equal to those in the public system who have pensions under 3,000 lei”.
According to Digi24, for these aids 12 million lei would be needed for MApn and 10 million for MAI.
The Minister of Defense asks for clarity
Radu Miruță stated that there was no discussion in the Coalition about aid to the military: “We had no such discussion. Now I learn from you about it. I need to see what it looks like and what the funding source is. I would argue that it should not be a one-off, because the military does not need money just once, but a pension related to everyday expenses. If it wanted to be passed, there should have been a discussion, which there was not”.
USR announced that its MPs will not submit or vote on amendments to the budget. “The PSD is playing with matches again, although the deficit fire that Ciolacu started has not yet been extinguished. The threat to vote on budget amendments that would increase public spending again is irresponsible“, it is stated in the press release of the formation.
PSD passes the amendment with the votes of the Opposition
The PSD amendment provides for the allocation of 1.1 billion lei to the Ministry of Labor to support families with children and pensioners, including approximately 2.8 million pensioners from the public system. The proposal passed in the labor committee with the votes of the UDMR and the Opposition, PNL and USR opposing.
For pensioners, the aid is 600 lei for pensions between 2,001 and 3,000 lei, 800 lei for pensions between 1,501 and 2,000 lei and 1,000 lei for pensions below 1,500 lei, the amounts to be granted in two installments.
