Mass protests bring down Romanian government
The Romanian government resigned on Monday, in the wake of mass protests against its austerity measures over the past three weeks. - Prime Minister Emil Boc explained his resignation in a televised cabinet meeting by saying he wanted to diffuse social tensions without compromising his unpopular austerity measures. “I took this decision to release the tension in the country's political and social situation, but also in order not to lose what Romanians have won.” [...] The IMF is confident that Boc’s austerity program will be continued after his resignation. The IMF representative in Bucharest, Jeffrey Franks, told Reuters that he did not expect that the IMF agreement would be affected by the change in government. Crucial to Frank’s conviction is the fact that all of the country’s opposition parties and trade unions support in principle the deals struck with the IMF. This is also the reason why popular outrage over the harsh austerity measures found no outlet for a long time. The unions have betrayed every labour dispute in recent years, organising sporadic toothless protests aimed at letting off steam.