New Romanian Coalition to Retain Current Premier in Power
(Bloomberg) -- Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu is poised to stay on as prime minister as the country’s pro-European coalition reached a long-awaited accord in an effort to keep far-right forces away from power.
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The Social Democrats, the largest party in the country’s new parliament, put forward their leader Ciolacu as prime minister during consultations with President Klaus Iohannis on Sunday. Iohannis said he will formally designate the premier after lawmakers pick new leaders of the new parliament, probably on Monday.
Ciolacu’s nomination is backed by the Liberals, the ethnic Hungarian party and representatives of the other minorities in the legislature. The Liberal party’s interim leader Ilie Bolojan told reporters in Bucharest earlier on Sunday that a vote on a new cabinet will come soon.
Ciolacu’s new government will include new ministers for finance, who will likely be appointed by the ethnic Hungarian party, for justice and for EU funds, he told reporters after a party meeting. A vote on the new cabinet may take place on Monday at the earliest.
“I’m convinced that we’ll have a government for the next four years,” Ciolacu said.
The two oldest parties have governed together over the past three years but attacked each other during a now-canceled presidential campaign.
The new government is urgently needed to tackle a ballooning budget deficit that’s poised to surge to over 8.5% of economic output this year. It also needs to organize a new presidential ballot after a top court annulled the previous one following accusations of Russian meddling. The vote triggered the deepest political crisis in the country in decades.
The turmoil has rattled the mainstream parties, with the Social Democrats withdrawing from talks a few days ago because of bickering with their coalition partners over fiscal policy.
The coalition is also considering backing a joint candidate for the presidential ballot and is testing several potential names, including former Liberal party leader Crin Antonescu, according to Ciolacu.
(Updates with president’s comments from second paragraph, cabinet details in fourth)
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