Parliament of Romania

The Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) will stay in government, party leader Kelemen Hunor announced on Friday, adding he will step down from all the positions he holds in the Victor Ponta Cabinet.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta on Sunday wrote on his wall on the social networking site Facebook that it was very hard for him two years ago, when President Basescu was suspended by the Parliament, to accept that the vote given by the Romanians in the 2012 referendum was ignored.

The delegates attending the Extraordinary Congress of the National Liberal Party (PNL) on Friday approved amendments to the Statutes of the party, with 6 votes against and 8 abstentions.

Romanian Parliament has on Wednesday adopted with 344 votes for and 17 abstentions a political declaration that requests President Traian Basescu resign from his position as head of state, following his brother's involvement in acts of corruption, a release of the Chamber of Deputies to AGERPRES informs.

Prime Minister Victor Ponta said after the ruling coalition meeting on Monday that the parliamentarians of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) and the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) will vote for a political declaration by which the speakers of the two chambers of Parliament, at a joint sitting of the Romanian legislature on Wednesday, will ask President Traian Base

The ruling coalition will suggest Parliament convene early this July in an extraordinary session to ratify Moldova's association agreement with the European Union and vote on a draft law reducing the social security contributions (CAS) by five percentage points, Prime Minister Victor Ponta said Monday.

The leader of UDMR senators, Marko Bela said that inviting a new party into a coalition government is possible only with the agreement of all parties and adds that PP-DD is a populist party, with no vision on Romania's future.

The PSD (Social Democratic Party) Chairman Victor Ponta on Monday told the RTV private television broadcaster that PP-DD requested a minister seat at the negotiations related to the cooperation agreement, but he added that this minister, if appointed, won't be Dan Diaconescu for sure.

'They made this request, we didn't say no, we will see,' stated Victor Ponta.

Leaders of the opposition Democratic Liberal Party, PDL, on Monday agreed to a merger with the National Liberal Party, PNL, in order to create a rightist alliance capable of taking on Victor Ponta's ruling centre-left coalition.

The Central Electoral Bureau (BEC) has handed out, on Thursday, the mandates proving their election as MEPs following the vote on May 25.