Romanian PM-designate Luca Niculescu meets major parties before sketching ruling strategy

Luca Niculescu plans to sketch out his governing strategy and the composition of the cabinet only after the consultations, Economica.net reported.

Niculescu faces the difficult task of finding common ground between radically different economic visions: the Social Democrats favour wage-led growth with limited, if any, streamlining of the state sector, while the centre-right PNL and USR advocate reforms of public administration and state-owned enterprises to create fiscal space and improve public services.

The appointment of political ministers explicitly backed by the parties could complicate efforts to secure support from most centrist parties. A technocratic government, with experts implicitly backed by the political parties, therefore appears the more likely option at this stage.

The meetings announced by Niculescu will take place at the parties' headquarters, with the schedule for consultations with the other parliamentary parties to be communicated as soon as possible.

“I will publicly present the outcome of these discussions,” Niculescu said.

In his second Facebook post since being designated prime minister on October 5, Niculescu said that his main concerns include economic growth, protecting purchasing power and measures to support the recovery of the business environment.

The PSD leadership received a mandate from its National Permanent Bureau on October 6 to begin discussions with Niculescu. Meanwhile, the party appears to have shifted its position from seeking direct control over a majority of ministries to supporting the appointment of technocrats – experts without explicit party membership who would be prepared to implement Social Democrat policies while shielding the party from the political costs of the expected economic hardship.

The Social Democrats are conditioning their support for a Niculescu cabinet on two potentially conflicting requirements: respecting the fiscal trajectory established under the Excessive Deficit Procedure while resuming growth-stimulating policies, in contrast with the policies pursued by former prime minister Ilie Bolojan, which PSD has condemned as unnecessary austerity.

PNL will decide whether to support a government led by Niculescu in the parliamentary investiture vote after analysing his proposals for ministerial positions, MP Ionel Bogdan, the party's spokesperson, said on Tuesday. He reaffirmed that the Liberals will not form a government together with PSD.