Opposition Liberals say they consider resignation from Parliament unless their call for early elections is rejected

Luni, 23 ianuarie 2012, 21:18 English | Politics

Several Liberal MPs wrote their resignation from the Romanian Parliament and handed them to opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Crin Antonescu to have them at the ready should PNL decide to withdraw from the Parliament en-masse, Antonescu said on Monday. But he said a decision has not yet been made whether USL - the opposition union of liberals and Social Democrats - would withdraw from the Legislative. Antonescu said talks will be held with their Social Democrats (PSD) and Conservatives (PC) on the issue.

Contacted by HotNews.ro, PSD leader Victor Ponta said a serious discussion within the USL union would take place before "a correct decision" is made on whether to withdraw from the Parliament.

The statements were made following an extraordinary session in the Parliament on Monday, where PM Emil Boc faced MPs on the government stand towards opposition calls for him and for President Traian Basescu to resign and early elections take place.

The session comes as protests have been taking place in Bucharest and other Romanian cities against the current political establishment for more than a week.