Heated discussions in Parliament on budget amendment bill

The lawmakers had controversial discussions on the bill with amendments to the 2011 state budget. The Liberal-Democratic MPs insisted that the bill should be discussed and adopted in first reading on November 24, while the Liberal and Communist lawmakers said more time was needed for debates, Info-Prim Neo reports. The head of the parliamentary commission on economy, budget and finance Veaceslav Ionita, of the PLDM, said the commission members agreed to hold a meeting before the Parliament’s sitting so as to approve the bill. “We waited, but nobody came,” he stated. Liberal MP Oleg Bodrug said the bill was filed too late and they did not manage to examine it. He stressed that more time is needed as the bill contains 100 pages and proposed postponing the examination of the issue until November 25. Communist lawmaker Eduard Musuc said the Liberal-Democrats want the bill to be passed in a hurry as they hide something. The chairman of the Liberal-Democratic group Valeriu Strelet asked for a break. He said the bill should be adopted in first reading on Thursday and in second reading on Friday as it would be irrational to pass the bill in two readings during one day. Speaker Marian Lupu said the meeting of the specialized commission can last long and proposed that the bill be debated on Friday. The budget amendment bill put forward by the Ministry of Finance was approved by the Government. The revenues and expenditure were reduced by 38 million lei. The deficit remained unchanged. The incomes total 19.049 billion lei, while the expenditure – 20.316 billion lei.