President Nicușor Dan has asked the political parties to meet frequently in the coming period to reach an agreement regarding a majority supporting a new government. The president did not put forth a timeframe for when a new government might be put in place.

“I want us to have a new government with full powers. We don’t know when this will happen, but I hope it will be very soon. I insist that parties meet as often as possible in the coming weeks so as to form a majority. I am in touch with the party leaders often,” the president said, quoted by Digi24. He made the remarks after a June 30 meeting with the ambassadors of EU member states.

For the past two months, Romania has had a caretaker government, led by the National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ilie Bolojan. The Parliament, which needs to provide the investiture vote for a new government, starts its summer recess on July 1.

The political crisis started after the Social Democrat Party (PSD) decided to pull out of the governing coalition where it had been partners with PNL, the Save Romania Union (USR), and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). It sided with the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) and toppled the government led by PNL leader Ilie Bolojan in a May 5 no-confidence vote.

The president has since made two PM nominations. Presidential adviser Eugen Tomac, the first nominee, gave up his mandate to form a government within the assigned ten days. Dan then nominated Adrian Veștea, the president of Brașov County Council and the vice-president of PNL. The cabinet put forth by Veștea failed to obtain the investiture vote in Parliament on June 22.

In the meantime, PSD has proposed its president, Sorin Grindeanu, for the job, while PNL, USR, and UDMR put forth Liberal member of the European Parliament Siegfried Mureșan.

In his June 30 remarks, the president said he “wasn’t asking for much” but the 233 votes needed for a parliamentary majority.

“In the situation we are in, after two months without a Government, I’m not asking for much. I’m asking for the 233 people who will vote [e.n. in favor] for sure. There needs to be an agreement. From my perspective, the most important thing is to have those 233 people,” the president said.

Referring to the options he had, namely Sorin Grindeanu and Siegfried Mureşan, he said he picked neither because they would not have had the needed majority in Parliament.

“Unlike previous situations, where there was a reasonable expectation that the government would be voted, following the talks I had with the parties, it was certain it would not be voted. I don’t want us to play prime minister and government appointment.”

The president also said the Romanian state is functional and that there is a political agreement on the budget deficit targets, OECD accession, the recovery and resilience plan PNRR, and the SAFE program.

simona@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)