2012 Romanian protests
| 2012 Romanian protests | |||
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| Part of 2012–14 unrest in Romania | |||
Demonstrations at University Square, Bucharest
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| Date | 12 January 2012 – 20 April 2012 (first phase) 4 June 2012 – 9 December 2012 (second phase) |
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| Location | 62 cities in Romania, including Bucharest Diaspora:  Vienna Brussels Montreal Aarhus Paris, Strasbourg Berlin Dublin Brescia, Padua, Rome, Trieste Chișinău The Hague Lisbon Madrid, Zaragoza London Vatican City |
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| Caused by | Tax raises, salary cuts, unemployment, economic conditions, political corruption | ||
| Goals | Resignation of President Traian Băsescu Early elections Resignation of Prime Minister Emil Boc |
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| Methods | |||
| Status | Ended | ||
| Concessions given |
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| Number | |||
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| Casualties | |||
| Injuries | 88 | ||
| Arrested | 283 in mid-January clashes | ||
The 2012 Romanian protests were a series of protests and civil manifestations triggered by the introduction of new health reform legislation. In particular, President Traian Băsescu criticized the Deputy Minister of Health, Raed Arafat, on a Romanian television broadcast. The protests became violent, with both protesters and members of the Gendarmerie sustaining injuries during their clashes. On the morning of 5 February 2012, Prime Minister Emil Boc announced his resignation because of the protests. He said that his decision would,
Protests, on a lesser scale, continued in University Square in Bucharest. The protesters demanded the president's resignation and early general elections. There were ongoing protests in Romania in subsequent months over a variety of disagreements.
In 2010, in the recession of the late 2000s, the Boc government, with the support of president Traian Băsescu, imposed a series of tax increases and cuts in public-sector wages and social benefits. Boc also imposed a new labour code, which was informed by multinational corporations and business representatives such as the Romanian-American Chamber of Commerce, the major Romanian trade unions, and some employers' organizations. At the time, the Boc government ruled by only a small majority and the parliamentary opposed all the new measures. Boc therefore used a special procedure provided by the Constitution of Romania to pass the new measures.
In the last days of 2011, the government introduced a new healthcare bill. It would have reduced state funded health benefits, de-regulated the health insurance market, and privatised Romanian hospitals.
One of the main objectors was the undersecretary, Raed Arafat, the founder of the "Mobile Service Emergency Resuscitation and Extrication" (SMURD) service, a public emergency service partially funded by private donations and partially by the government. His concern was the privatization of emergency services, which he believed would lead to the disappearance of the public service, as for-profit emergency service companies would have access to both private and public funds. President Băsescu criticised Arafat for his opposition. On 9 January 2012, in a phone call to a TV talk show, Băsescu suggested Arafat leave the Cabinet. Arafat resigned the following day, citing the main reason as the need for a fair criticism of the healthcare bill from outside the government. On 10 January, in Bucharest, Arafat and SMURD met to unite in opposition. On 11 January, an Arafat-SMURD solidarity meeting was held in Cluj-Napoca in the north-west.
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