Romania's president rejects minister candidates, asks Govt. to get Parliament’s vote

Romania's president Klaus Iohannis on August 28 rejected all three minister candidates prime minister Viorica Dancila sent to him before the Government crisis emerged this week: Dana Gârbovan for the Justice Ministry, Iulian Iancu for deputy prime minister post and Serban Valeca for the Education Ministry. He deemed the proposals as unacceptable and asked PM Dancila to go to the Parliament to get a confirmation vote for her new cabinet after the junior ruling party ALDE left the ruling coalition with PSD and its ministers resigned from the Government.

“The current Government needs a new confirmation in Parliament through a procedure that I request,” President Iohannis stated. “After the elections (the general elections next year), with a new majority, constitutionally, we can do much more together,” Iohannis continued, according to G4media.ro.

The president criticized the PSD and ALDE for the chaotic governing process in the last two and a half years. He said the Government should have resigned after the result of the elections for the EU Parliament when Romanians expressed their disapproval of the way the two parties governed Romania and that the PSD government was only kept alive by the configuration of the local Parliament, which resulted after the December 2016 elections. He added he would not endorse in any way the current Government.

By law, PM Dancila was anyway required to ask the Parliament’s endorsement for new ministers to replace the ministers of the junior ruling partner (ALDE) that pulled out of the ruling coalition. What Iohannis asked for, is a vote for the entire Government to validate whether the lawmakers give a mandate to what it seems to be a minority cabinet headed by Dancila.

In case the lawmakers do not extend their support, Iohannis assured that Romania would not enter a political crisis. The president announced the idea of a new “transitional government” to replace Dancila’s cabinet if it does not pass the vote in the Parliament. Iohannis said that “there are enough votes in Parliament to support even a transitional solution to replace the current government.”

At this moment, the National Liberal Party (PNL) is the only party that openly expressed interest in forming a new government. A vote of the lawmakers against the Government does not automatically lead to the fall of the Dancila cabinet, however. A straighter way to remove the current Government is through a no-confidence motion.

(Photo source: Presidency.ro)