Member of the European Parliament Raresh Bohdan recommends himself to be a “specialist in polemics” and says that from the PSD side, only Mihai Tudose could “fall behind half” as much as he could: “I immediately put the rest under the table.” The statements were made on the air of Digi 24 in the context of the scandal in the coalition regarding the increase of pensions.

Raresh Bohdan said that he does not want to enter into a controversy with the PSD regarding the pension law, saying that he wants to believe that “Marcel Čolaku is a responsible person.”

• “I am a specialist in polemics. If I were to get into a polemic, believe me, the only PSD person I could say can take half as much as me is Mihai Tudose. He immediately put the rest under the table. But, despite all that, I will not enter into a polemic with anyone.
• I want to believe that Marcel Cholaku is a responsible person. A person who knows for sure, because he has been to Brussels twice, I once met his lordship, he knows for sure the discussions that took place in the European Commission, he knows that the economy of Romania will go bankrupt without European funds. He knows that without the money from PNRR, including the next contribution that we have to collect by December 1st, we will have big problems with payment, and all these things are known not only to Rares Bohdan, but also to Marcel Cholak. I want to believe that we will increase pensions as much as possible even after we see the budget resources,” Raresh Bohdan told Digi 24.

“A 40% increase in pensions seems to be the threshold PSD is thinking about, regardless of who leads this party”

The member of the European Parliament from the PNL says that although the pension law was supposed to be ready last year, it was postponed.

• “In the conclusion of Minister Bolos, it is very clearly stated under which conditions pensions can be increased. We have invited a meeting of the coalition tomorrow to clarify this saraband of statements, not so much attacks on the PNL, which we are used to and are not immune to, but the fact that such an issue is being discussed in the coalition. The pension law was supposed to be ready for a year, but it was delayed. It was about increasing pensions by 13.8%, i.e. at the level of inflation for 2022. Therefore, the obligation of the responsible person according to the law to increase pensions by this 13.8%.
• I saw the statement of the Prime Minister from now, later I saw the statement of the Minister of Labor who talked about a 40% increase. At first I thought we were hearing badly because I heard this 40% in the mandate of Ms. Olguca Vasilescu and in the mandate of Ms. Dencile. This 40% is similar to the threshold that PSD thinks about, regardless of who leads this party, regardless of the period in which it is announced. This is not a problem, and we want, like everyone else, to maximize pensions. That it’s 40%, that it’s 50%, that it’s 60%, but we can’t make a saraband of populist statements that have no coverage,” says Raresh Bohdan.

The coalition considered the introduction of new taxes

Raresh Bohdan says that the idea of ​​introducing taxes was discussed in the coalition, although PSD and PNL promised not to do it:

• “I took part in discussions where the issue of liquidation of facilities or introduction of taxes was raised, although we, accepting the government together with the SDP, promised that taxes would not be increased, that taxes would not be increased.
• The coalition responsibly and civilly discussed the topic of increasing pensions taking into account the inflation rate for 2022, namely 13.8%, and finding ways to increase small pensions depending on availability.
• Because you can’t, if you’re responsible, clear, balanced, if you care about this country and understand the moments it’s going through, because you can’t be ambiguous. It is impossible to say on the one hand “we are getting out of the deficit”, “the commission sanctions us”, “our European funds are suspended”, “we cannot check 680,000 commercial companies”, it is impossible to talk about this and at the same time calmly declare “we are increasing pensions” , and whoever is against it is against pensioners.”

The MEP also says that the PNL is a “responsible party” and that a solution needs to be found to see where money can be taken to increase pensions: “I am only responsible and the party I represent is a party of responsible people. You will not see from us, the PNL leadership, attacks on ministers or the prime minister, because I don’t think that will help anyone.”

The scandal in the Coalition regarding the pension law began on Thursday due to a misunderstanding about the numbers, or rather, the impact of the law on the budget. The tension arose in the context that PNL and PSD representatives have been working and discussing the draft law with European officials, and the Ministry of Finance is the one assessing the law’s impact on the budget.

Read also:

• Behind the scenes of the PSD-PNL scandal regarding the pension law: how and why Bolosh initially blocked the pension law ​
• Scandal PNL – PSD on pension money. Government meeting suspended / Ciucă: With an impact of 55.6 billion lei, a 40% increase in pensions is not possible
• How many Romanians would have higher pensions in 2024 and how much the annual score will increase depending on years of work – Explanation of the Minister of Labor
• Elections are approaching: the draft law on pensions provides for an average increase of 40% / 55.36 billion lei impact on the budget