Informal talks on gov't kick off

Informal talks between the new Romanian President Nicușor Dan and the parliamentary parties have begun at Cotroceni Palace, in the view of shaping a pro-Western majority in Parliament that can endorse a future Cabinet.

Nicușor Dan said Wednesday morning, before informal consultations with the parties at Cotroceni Palace, that he wants the four pro-Western parties to be part of the new government, for a stable majority. He avoided making it clear that he wants Ilie Bolojan as prime minister.

“The consultations are taking place on two levels. First – to see how we can balance the budget, and second – to see how we can form the government. But the second depends on the first,” he said. When asked how soon he believes the new government will be formed, Nicușor Dan replied: “I hope in two to three weeks.”

Regarding the possibility of Ilie Bolojan or a technocrat becoming Prime Minister, Nicușor Dan stated that “many options are on the table.”

The president also mentioned that on Tuesday he held technical discussions about reducing state spending. “These were technical discussions to identify areas where we can cut government spending. (…) There are some areas. Now let’s see the parties’ vision,” the head of state said.

Nicușor Dan: I want the four pro-Western parties to be in the government
He also expressed his wish that the four pro-Western parties be part of the government. “The most important thing is to ensure economic stability and predictability, and you can’t do that with a minority government. That’s why I want the four pro-Western parties to be in the government, so we can have a stable majority – for investors or lenders to know that there is stability,” Nicușor Dan said when asked whether a government without PSD was possible.

Regarding AUR’s absence from the consultations at Cotroceni Palace, he said that it was their decision. “That’s their choice. I invited everyone, because that’s the right thing to do,” said Nicușor Dan.

According to the schedule published by Cotroceni, the parties are attending one by one, each having between an hour and an hour and a half for consultations. Discussions will begin at 09:00 and end at 20:00. The order of invitations does not reflect the parties’ parliamentary share:

09:00: Social Democratic Party (PSD)
10:30: National Liberal Party (PNL)
12:00: Save Romania Union (USR)
13:30: Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR)
15:00: Parliamentary Group of National Minorities
16:00: Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR)
17:00: S.O.S. Romania Party
18:00: Young People’s Party (POT)
19:00: Non-affiliated MPs

Grindeanu, PSD: No certainty for PSD in the Gov’t

The interim president of the PSD, Sorin Grindeanu, declared on Wednesday, after an informal meeting with the president Nicuşor Dan, that “there is no certainty” for the Social Democratic Party in government. “We are interested in the government program and the measures that will have to be taken,” he specified. Grindeanu said that he had a meeting with Ilie Bolojan on Tuesday, in which the two had “a constructive discussion.”

Asked if the PSD would enter government, Sorin Grindeanu stated that “there is no such certainty. First of all, we have to discuss programs and projects and that is the next step that we and the others will take. (…) We are primarily interested in this government program and then we will make a decision in the party”.

The interim president of the PSD specified that at Cotroceni “it was an informal meeting. There were no consultations related to a future majority. (…) In the coming days and weeks there will be many meetings, consultations, negotiations, working teams, of which the Social Democratic Party team will be present”.

Sorin Grindeanu said, when asked what the conditions are for the PSD to be part of the new government: “We are interested in the governing program, the measures that will have to be taken by the Government. If we are in an area where we agree that those measures are necessary, yes, we will take the next step, we will submit to the party’s attention this option of entering the government or not”.

“If we reach that point of agreeing to the governing program, I am thinking of doing this broader consultation towards the party base. However, we have 1,800 mayors, approximately, most county councilors, most parliamentarians. It is a discussion that we will have in the coming days”, he added.

Asked if he had a meeting with Ilie Bolojan on Tuesday at the Ministry of Transport, Sorin Grindeanu said: “He was at a meeting and we had a constructive discussion. We discussed about the same things that we touched on today with President Nicușor Dan, those related to possible fiscal measures that we need to take in the coming period, without going into too many details, since each of us, in the parties we lead, has specialists in this economic area and who will certainly meet in the coming days to discuss these fiscal measures.” “I have not spoken about positions during this period, with anyone, not even with Mr. Bolojan,” added the interim president of the PSD.

Ilie Bolojan, PNL: We May Need to Raise Taxes and Duties Soon

Romania is in a serious economic situation, which is why it must take urgent measures, and the PNL assumes to be part of the government that will take these measures, declared the interim president of the PNL, Ilie Bolojan, after the consultations at Cotroceni with President Nicușor Dan.

“We are in a complicated economic situation in which we have a large deficit that is approaching that of last year, we cannot carry it in this form for a long time,” declared Ilie Bolojan, interim president of the PNL, after the consultations at Cotroceni.

The liberal interim chairman also stressed that Romania is still facing accelerated debt growth. “At this rate, next year we will exceed a debt of more than 60% of GDP,” he said.

The absorption of European funds is also reduced. The PNL is also responsible for this situation, Bolojan said, which is why the party has assumed its entry into the future government in order to take measures to resolve the serious economic situation.

“We will be willing to support a package of complex measures that will not disrupt the economy: reducing the costs of state operation, reducing inefficiency, where personnel can be reduced, it is necessary to reduce, eliminate extras, any expenses that cannot be justified, in order to provide equally good services but with a much lower volume of expenses. The second component is increasing revenues. We need to increase the revenue collection rate. It is possible that we will have to increase taxes and duties here,” Bolojan also said.

Kelemen Hunor, UDMR: We are willing to assume governance

The President of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, declared on Wednesday, after informal consultations at the Cotroceni Palace, that they are willing to assume the government and we must have a government with majority parliamentary support from the PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR, minorities.

“We are ready to enter into these discussions starting tomorrow and we are willing to assume the government and, of course, the responsibility of the government, with good and bad, if there is a solution found together with the other parties that want to come into government. I argued that a majority coalition is needed. A minority government is not a solution today, it is not a good option. The number one priority for each of us must be to have a government with majority parliamentary support. This means PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR, the National Minorities Group and we will discuss this with our colleagues from all political parties,” declared Kelemen Hunor.

The UDMR leader argues that a very detailed political agreement is needed. “We argued that we need a very detailed political agreement in which we write what we do and when we do it, including on the side of taxation and state reform. And we need to write what we will not do, until this coalition is functioning. A very detailed coalition agreement is a guarantee that in difficult conditions, in this extremely difficult conjuncture, a coalition can function,” he said.

Kelemen Hunor specified that the discussions will not be finalized sooner than two weeks. “I am convinced that if we start the debates, the discussions this week, first on taxation, then on the political side, then we can send a message, first of all to our society and then to our external partners, including the European Commission, that there is the determination, the desire and the political determination to make those corrections, without which Romania, in the long term and the environment in the long term, cannot function,” added Kelemen Hunor.

Dominic Fritz, USR: “This government will need time to form”

Dominic Fritz, the interim president of the USR, said that during the discussions in Cotroceni with President Nicușor Dan, he addressed how to reduce the deficit, “which is far too high, due to the unsustainable measures taken by the previous government.” Fritz said that the USR does not support tax increases and instead calls for a reduction in state spending.

“We have expressed very clearly that before discussing quick or supposedly quick solutions, where the burden falls again on the shoulders of citizens, that before such solutions like tax increases, we must discuss everything and put on the table all the possibilities to reduce state spending”, declared the interim president of the USR.

Dominic Fritz also said: “as long as we can afford to pay an antenna increase for almost all civil servants in Romania, totaling 6 billion lei per year, I do not think it is fair to Romanians to discuss a VAT increase”.

“One point increase in VAT brings 7 billion lei. So we cannot increase VAT so that we can continue to pay the antenna increase. Let that be clear”, he pointed out.

“I also conveyed to the President that this crisis we are in is also a chance not only for a cure for weakening the state, but also to trigger the potential that exists in the private sector through a flexibilization of the labor market, for example, through radical debureaucratization. We proposed and are proposing a paper-cutting commission because any business in Romania is faced with far too many regulations and controls that can be streamlined,” Fritz added.

The interim president of USR also stated that “the discussion was about the measures we propose”: “At the end, we also briefly discussed the formation of the government where we repeated publicly what we said – we believe that the country needs a prime minister with great authority and credibility, otherwise it will be difficult to put into practice these difficult measures that are coming and USR believes that this prime minister is Ilie Bolojan.” “I also told the president and I say it here again that the PNL and USR together have more MPs than the PSD and, therefore, the direction that the most numerous party should not appoint the prime minister is not so absurd precisely because we, from the USR, strongly support this proposal”, he added. “The way in which these negotiations are being approached is different than in the past because there is no breaking news twice a day, this government will need time to form”, Dominic Fritz also stated.

AUR, SOS will not attend the informal talks

Representatives of the S.O.S. Romania party, scheduled for consultations at 5:00 p.m., announced that they would not participate in the discussions. S.O.S. Romania said in a press release that it would not participate because it did not recognize Nicușor Dan as president.

“There is no point in wasting our time, you pretending to be preoccupied with discussions with us, and us pretending to accept you. In addition, at that time we have scheduled a meeting of the Central Executive Bureau at the party regarding the legal and political fight that we will wage, including against you and the powers that support you, for the restoration of the Romanian rule of law and the reimposition of the power of the Romanian Constitution, so we have very important issues for Romania,” the press release sent on Wednesday by the party led by Diana Șoșoacă states.

AUR spokesman Dan Tanasă had also announced that the party he represents will not attend the consultations unless the head of state publicly apologizes for the “biased and deeply undemocratic statements made during the electoral campaign.”

“You have stated, without reservation, that in the event that you become president, you will collaborate only with certain parliamentary parties, deliberately excluding formations that have received the trust of millions of Romanian citizens. (…) We cannot support a simulacrum of dialogue whose real purpose is to consolidate a new national betrayal, by bringing back to government the same parties of the system that, in the last 35 years, have destroyed the economy, driven millions of Romanians from the country and compromised the future of entire generations,” Tanasă said on Tuesday, quoted in an AUR press release.

Consultations with parties for the future government kick off in Cotroceni

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