Socialists vote with a cup
The opposition in parliament voted against the government's four-month governing platform. Although the government secured the vote of confidence with 76 votes in favor, only 72 deputies were in the chamber. The votes were counted with a cup. The opposition accused the majority of having violated the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of Parliament. The result of the vote is missing from the minutes of the plenary session. According to the rules, at least 71 deputies should have cast their votes in the respective boxes. Yet only 69 deputies took part in the vote. Only thanks to the trick with the voting cup did the government survive. Driven by rule through violence, the socialist majority blocked yesterday in parliament the interpellation with Prime Minister Nano. This caused the opposition to block the work of the Assembly for several hours. This did not prevent the majority from also approving the much-discussed amendment by the head of the Media Commission, Alibori, which condemns the newspaper that published secret documents to a fine of 250 million. The publisher must pay the same amount as well. The PS and PSD needed only 55 minutes to close yesterday’s parliamentary session. The Democratic opposition accuses the left-wing government of leading the country in a direction contrary to Europe. At the close of the session, the members of the opposition parliamentary group were locked for nearly two hours in the plenary session hall. The opposition warns of a halt to parliamentary life. The Presidium of the Assembly, amid socialist uproar and opposition protests, postponed the debate and approval of Nano’s four-month government platform. In this way, the majority blocked all attempts to force Prime Minister Nano to answer the numerous accusations of scandals and corrupt dealings. Another novelty in yesterday’s session was the counting of votes with glass cups. The cups were black and not transparent. The opposition objected to voting with cups, describing it as unconstitutional. The lack of transparency in the vote count raised serious suspicions of manipulation of the result. ON PAGE 2