Romanian MEP Siegfried Mureșan put forward as PM proposal by center-right coalition
The National Liberal Party (PNL), the Save Romania Union Party (USR), and the minority Hungarian party UDMR put forward Liberal member of the European Parliament Siegfriend Mureșan as prime minister of Romania after meetings held on Friday, June 26.
According to a PNL press release, the proposal aims to meet several urgent problems facing the country, including the absorption of the Recovery and Resilience Facility, or PNRR, the defense-oriented SAFE financing, ensuring OECD accession for Romania, and balancing the public budget.
The future executive should also, according to the Liberals, continue reforms and “make use of every development opportunity in the interest of citizens.”
Mureșan, 44, said he has experience with Romania’s “emergencies” and wants a “pro-European government through action, not declarations.” He also vowed to continue the reforms begun by former PM and current PNL leader, Ilie Bolojan. The proposed PM was one of the three chief negotiators of the European Parliament for the European Recovery and Resilience Mechanism.
“My conviction is that people in Romania want modernisation and reform, and our concern is to make an honest, fair offer, adopted and supported transparently by the parties for people who want a Romania in which honest work is rewarded and appreciated. I am aware of Romania’s urgencies, and Romania’s urgencies are exactly the topics I have been working on for years in the European Parliament and at the European level,” said Siegfried Mureșan, cited by News.ro.
The USR leader, Dominic Fritz, described Mureșan as “an experienced MEP, an economist with a lot of experience both in negotiation and in making budgets.”
The Liberal leader and interim PM also added his support for the proposal. “It is a proposal based on his experience in managing European funds and large investment budgets. He is a professional, a person who has proven over the years that he is attached to European values,” said Ilie Bolojan.
Two months of crisis
The proposal comes as a counterweight to that of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which voted to support its leader, Sorin Grindeanu, as the next prime minister of Romania in a meeting on Wednesday, June 23.
The four centrist parties had formed a single governing coalition reuniting some 60% of the votes in the Parliament until early May, when PSD sided with the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians Party, or AUR, to bring down the Liberal-led Ilie Bolojan government.
During the coalition, the Social Democrats had voted for tax increases and a higher VAT, but refused to approve the restructuring or listing of ailing state-owned companies. Since then, no majority could be formed in Parliament, leading to the failure of two PM proposals, Eugen Tomac and Adrian Vestea.
On Thursday, June 24, Romanian president Nicușor Dan stated that it is important to have a government as soon as possible, and since MPs will enter parliamentary recess next week. He also highlighted the August 31 deadline for the PNRR.
The proposal of Siegfriend Mureșan as PM also comes after USR president Dominic Fritz announced that the party he leads will not vote for a one-party PSD government. Instead, the reformists proposed a rotation between a PNL–USR–UDMR minority government, which would handle affairs for one year, followed by a one-party PSD government afterwards. Those not in government would ensure the votes for the new governments, thereby ensuring fairness, according to USR.
(Photo source: Siegfried Muresan on Facebook)
