Liberals remain alone in forming the new Govt. in Romania, President to announce new PM today

The National Liberal Party (PNL) will likely be alone in forming the new Government in Romania after the second-biggest opposition party, Save Romania Union (USR) decided not to join the Liberals. President Klaus Iohannis is expected to announce the name of the new prime minister today, after a new round of talks with political parties represented in the Parliament.

The USR leaders had a meeting on Monday evening in which they discussed the possibility of joining the Liberals in forming the new Government. The proposal came from MP Stelian Ion, who represents the voice of a minority faction within the party. He said that USR should join the new Government so as not to lose the spotlight to the Liberals and president Klaus Iohannis in the campaign for the presidential elections.

However, the majority of USR leaders maintained their initial decision not to join the Government at this point and call for early elections. They also decided on a list of demands for supporting the new Liberal Government. USR wants mayors to be elected after a two-round voting process, instead of just one round as it is now, and the adoption of the initiative to ban convicted people from holding public office. If they agree to these demands, the Liberals could lose support from other parties.

The Democrat Hungarian Union (UDMR), for example, said it does not agree to two voting rounds for mayor. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats (ALDE) of former PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu advocate for keeping the special section for investigating magistrates, and the Popular Movement Party (PMP) of former president Traian Basescu, want a special ministry for the Republic of Moldova.

The former ruling party – PSD has already announced that its leaders decided they wouldn’t vote the new Government, but the party will also consult its MPs on this decision.

Thus, it remains to be seen if the Liberals manage to get enough support for their new cabinet.

If the Parliament rejects two government formulas, the president can dissolve the Parliament and call for early elections, but most parties reject this option because it would lead to shorter mandates for their MPs as well as higher political instability in a sensitive moment for Romania.

(Photo source: Gov.ro)