The government blockade has been postponed until the end of the general teachers’ strike, which is already in its fifth day. Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke, President of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel Çolaku and Deputy Prime Minister Kelemen Hunor are making statements to the press from 9:00 a.m. at Victoria Palace. This is the first joint appearance since the beginning of the strike in education.

Key statements, LIVETEXT:

Chuke summarizes the prime minister’s one and a half year term:

• The government that I lead has reliable parliamentary support
• We all agreed that we needed a stable political coalition, which we did, and thanks to this political stability we were able to cope with crises and the effects of inflation
• There are assumptions that by the end of the year inflation will fall below double digits, Romania is the country in Europe with the third fastest economic growth
• I established when the coalition was formed that in the middle of the term of office my deputy would resign
• I was supposed to submit my mandate today.
• After negotiations in the coalition, we decided to continue the dialogue with the education unions
• I hope we can find solutions, but they cannot be solved with one solution
• From 2022, an additional 8 billion lei was allocated for education
• We know about the increase in teachers’ pay. It is clear that we all want the future of the country to be predictable
• All this is achieved by providing a well-established and complex framework
• At the moment, appealing to the wisdom of the entire teaching staff, we cannot undertake the unbalancing of the entire state budget
• We will continue talks with the trade unions
• We hope that eventually we will reach a solution
• In the package of laws, in the law on wages, education and health care are priorities
• Thus, we held discussions in the coalition and agreed that until this issue is resolved, I will not submit my mandate and will continue to perform the duties of the prime minister.

Cholaku:

• I believe that the decision made by the three of us is the right one, we are making it together, together we will continue to solve this absolutely legitimate problem as quickly as possible
• We have to have a balance to find the most favorable moments, and together we have assumed that the number 1 priority is teachers and the health system
• I believe that this is the right decision
• Together we will find the best calendar for the Government Ring Road

Clement:

• This requires predictability and responsibility
• Last night we decided to rally and give the answer as society wants
• I am an optimist, I believe in our forces and people
• At the end of the road, we will have a much better developed society, and we will not pass on that responsibility