President Traian Basescu Tells His Former Party To Keep Coalition Running

President Traian Basescu visited Saturday night the Democrat-Liberal Party ministers and parliamentarians assembled over the week-end in the Poiana Brasov mountain resort to tell them keeping the coalition with the Social Democrat Party should superseded all other criteria.

He used as a case in point the example of the former alliance of Christian-democrats, liberals, and his own party, the current PD-L, under the umbrella of the Democrat Convention, which was dismantled due to infighting. "This infighting, with the PSD coalition partners, should be avoided this time around," Basescu added.

PD-L executive secretary Mircea Toader denied any political topics were approached by Basescu and his party, insisting only private matters were discussed.

According to the House Speaker Roberta Anastase, the priorities the PD-L set in parliament are to amend the electoral law, the executive accountability law and the laws governing the work of the House and the Senate.

The PD-L wants to change the electoral law to make possible casting votes via the mail service. The party also plans to restrict parliamentary immunity to political opinions, take out the special pension rights the parliamentarians had so far, further decentralize government, bring down the number of emergency ordinances the Executive rules by, and support laws promoting the upgrade of existing buildings.