Romania's ruling coalition fails to reach agreement on local administration, Bucharest elections

Romania's four-party ruling coalition, in its latest meeting on October 14, failed to agree on how to cut the payroll in the local administration, while the other key topic on the meeting's agenda, regarding the long-overdue mayoral elections in Bucharest, was not even touched, Hotnews.ro reported.

The meeting marked a significant deadlock in the functioning of the ruling coalition, which seems to have reached its limits after a first package of measures sketched by the European Commission and legislated in July under the pressure of losing EU funding, followed by a mixed second package including major compromises and still only half cleared for final promulgation.

At the same time, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) has drafted and is promoting in Parliament a bill that would amend measures included in the first package of budgetary measures legislated in July (such as waiving the contribution to the public health system for some categories of recipients).

One of the six laws promised under the second package of budgetary measures was not even inked (the law on local administration), another one risks being rejected by the Constitutional Court (the law on magistrates' pensions), and a third one, including various fiscal measures, including a controversial "tax on affiliates," may need revision.

The three laws cleared by the Constitutional Court for promulgation regard cutting employment and wages in market regulatory bodies, streamlining the management of state-owned enterprises, and regulating the activity of the public health system for more efficient spending.

The only decision taken at the October 14 coalition meeting is that, on October 15, the government will consider amendments to emergency ordinance 52/2025, which has displeased mayors. Among the expenditures that would have been blocked are those for furniture, cars and fuel, protocol, travel, studies, or documentation. The ordinance will be amended at this week's government meeting.

"I requested that GEO 52/2025 be revised. It says that by the end of the year, we will no longer be able to make repairs. We will no longer be able to prepare the roads for winter," said Lia Olguța Vasilescu, mayor of Craiova, head of the mayors in Romanian municipalities, and an influential member in the team of PSD interim president Sorin Grindeanu.

(Photo source: Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea)