Premier Mihai Tudose accepted the resignation of the Defence Minister on Tuesday and was set to send it to the Presidential Palace later in the afternoon. Earlier, Adrian Tutuianu had announced he tendered his resignation following a meeting he had with Premier Mihai Tudose on the issue of the servicemen’s salaries, adding that the Premier was expected to decide whether to accept it. The decision to resign was taken because of the announcement that Ministry of Defence employees will not receive all of their salary rights on September 15.
“I’ve tendered my resignation because of lack of communication. I’ve admitted before the Premier that I wronged him because I did not inform him and I did not inform the press because of lack of time. I told him I take responsibility for the mistake. He told me he is the one taking this decision. I left my resignation on the table,” Tutuianu added in a statement for Antena3 private television broadcaster.
“I told him that if my resignation is a solution that fixes things, I’m a man of my word,” Tutuianu pointed out.
He claimed there is money for the payment of salaries and the announced timetable will be respected.
“There are no financial problems, there are technical issues generated by the legal dispositions, Article 18, Paragraph 4 of the fiscal-budgetary accountability law. This aspect hasn’t allowed us to transfer money from the 4th quarter’s personnel expenditures to the 3rd quarter and to solve, on September 15, all of the problems concerning salaries and other rights of the personnel from the defence system. I want to point out that on September 15 we will pay the salaries due for August and that the food ration payments we are talking about are due for September. All of these rights will be paid in September. There is no problem with financial allocations,” the Defence Minister stated.
On Tuesday, Premier Mihai Tudose urgently summoned Defence Minister Adrian Tutuianu and Finance Minister Ionut Misa at the Victoria Palace, in order to ask them for explanations for the Ministry of Defence communique concerning the payment of the servicemen’s salaries in tranches, governmental sources stated for News.ro.
Ministry of Defence representatives announced on Tuesday that the salaries of Ministry of Defence employees will be paid in tranches this month, considering that the budget adjustment has not taken place. The net pay and net salaries will be paid on September 15, while the money for rent, food rations and other salary rights will be paid “around September 25, after the budget adjustment.”
According to a press release issued by Ministry of Defence representatives on Tuesday, the salary rights of Ministry of Defence employees will be paid in tranches this month.
Thus, “in order to prudentially tackle the budget execution, considering that the budget adjustment of 2017 hasn’t taken place so far,” the financial-accounting directorate has decided that the net pays and salaries will be paid on September 15, without the individual contributions and taxes. The forex-denominated pay owed to Ministry of Defence personnel deployed on missions abroad will be paid on the same day.
The employer’s and employees’ contributions and the income taxes will be paid on September 21-25.
The rest of the salary rights – food ration payments, rent etc. – will be paid “around September 25, after the budget adjustment.”
PM Tudose : Deputy PM Marcel Ciolacu, interim Defence Minister. There is money for salaries: Someone from MoD had imagination
Deputy PM Marcel Ciolacu was appointed interim Defence Minister on Tuesday, following Adrian Tutuianu’s resignation earlier in the day. Ciolacu is the nomination that will be sent to the Presidential Palace along with Tutuianu’s resignation.
A decision on a new nomination for this ministry will be taken next week within the ruling coalition.
Premier Mihai Tudose announced, in a phone interview with RTV private broadcaster, that he accepted Defence Minister Adrian Tutuianu’s resignation and he proposed that the ministry’s interim leadership should be held by Deputy PM Marcel Ciolacu, with consultations set to take place within PSD and the ruling coalition in what concerns the future nomination for the Defence Ministry portfolio. The PM emphasised that “there is money for salaries” but “someone” from the Ministry of Defence “had imagination.”
When the interviewer pointed out that Adrian Tutuianu was not happy, the Premier replied: “Obviously he can’t be happy, but neither can we.”
The Premier emphasised that this “isn’t a crisis” and “there will be another minister in a few hours,” namely Marcel Ciolacu as interim minister.
In what concerns the future nomination for the Defence Ministry portfolio, Mihai Tudose stated: “First we’ll hold consultations within the party, settle on a proposal. It’s a political decision, we’ll meet within the party, within the alliance, and then we’ll come up with a nomination.”
The Head of Government emphasised that “there is money for salaries.”
“Someone had imagination there (at the MoD – editor’s note),” Tudose claimed, stating that Tutuianu resigned because “it happened in his courtyard.”
Asked when will we have a new Defence Minister, the Premier answered: “Defence Minister with oath taken at Cotroceni Palace, in 45 days at most. Maybe in a week’s time.”
“There is money in all ministries, we’ll have a positive [budget] adjustment in a week’s time,” the Premier added.
Finance Minister: No difficulties in the payment of salary rights of the employees of the MoD or of any other ministry
On Tuesday, the Finance Ministry informed that there are no difficulties in what concerns the payment of the salary rights of the employees of the Ministry of Defence or of any other ministry.
“In response to media information, we inform you that there are no difficulties in what concerns the payment of the salary rights of Ministry of Defence employees,” the Finance Ministry pointed out.
Likewise, the institution pointed out “that there are no such problems at any other ministry.”