Fifth day of demonstrations in Romania

Anti-government protesters demanded the resignation of Romania’s President Trian Basescu on Monday during the fifth day of demonstrations across the country sparked by a controversial healthcare bill.

Waving Romanian flags, protesters in central Bucharest chanted “Down with Basescu” and “Thieves”.

The protests were sparked by the resignation of a Deputy Healthcare Minister over the contested legislation but eventually focused on broader austerity measures that have been undertaken by the government since 2010. They include a 25 per cent cut in public sector wages and five percentage point increase in VAT.