Klaus Iohannis invited the presidents of the political parties and formations represented in the Romanian Parliament to the Cotroceni Palace for consultations in order to designate the candidate for the position of prime minister, the Presidential Administration announced on Saturday. PSD, PNL, UDMR and the minorities will go together to the consultations. USR, AUR, SOS Romania and POT will have separate meetings.
The consultations will take place on Sunday, December 22, 2024, following this schedule:
12:00 PM:
– Social Democratic Party (PSD);
– National Liberal Party (PNL);
– Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR);
– Parliamentary Group of National Minorities.
12:30 PM – Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR);
1:00 PM – Save Romania Union (USR);
1:30 PM – SOS Romania Party;
2:00 PM – Young People’s Party (POT).
The consultations are taking place one day after Klaus Iohannis’ term ends. On December 6, with the annulment of the presidential elections, the Romanian Constitutional Court ruled that he should remain in office until a new president is elected.
AUR MP Dan Tănasă declared on Tuesday on the show România Politică on Prima News that the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians is considering boycotting the consultations at Cotroceni Palace if the president calls them for consultations to form a government after December 21, when his term as head of state ends. AUR MPs on Saturday called Klaus Iohannis an “illegitimate president” at the first meeting in which they took the oath.
PSD spokesman Lucian Romaşcanu said on Saturday that it was premature to talk about a nomination for prime minister, stating that this proposal would be made after Sunday’s consultations at the Cotroceni Palace, but he believes that Marcel Ciolacu deserves this position. Paul Stănescu, secretary general of PSD, also said on Saturday that the party still wants Marcel Ciolacu as prime minister.
According to Digi24, there is a scenario in which Klaus Iohannis could come up with a proposal for the position of head of the Executive. This is because the PSD does not agree on the name of the prime minister. The party is divided into two camps and Marcel Ciolacu would not want to take over the position either, especially since the next Government would take more austerity measures. The decision from the PSD is expected tomorrow, when the Social Democrats will go to the Cotroceni Palace for consultations with President Klaus Iohannis. If the PSD does not come up with a name, then, according to Digi24, the president would choose a name from the Social Democrats camp.
The new coalition, formed by PSD, PNL and UDMR, managed to reach an agreement on some of the names that will lead the future ministries, as well as on their division. What remains to be decided is the name of the future Executive. The position will be given by PSD, since the party obtained the highest number of votes in the parliamentary elections.
Sources told Digi24 that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would continue to remain with the PNL and be led by Cătălin Predoiu. According to Digi24 information, this would also be the only minister that the PNL keeps in the future Executive.
The current head of the PNL wants to come up with new names for the future ministries, and these details would be finalized by the liberals in a meeting.
On the other hand, the PSD will largely remain with the same names in the future Government. Thus, Sorin Grindeanu would lead the Ministry of Transport, Bogdan Ivan would continue to remain at the Ministry of Digitalization, while Adrian Câciu will be the head of the Ministry of European Funds.
The UDMR obtained three ministries following the negotiations, and two of these will have the same heads as in 2021, when the government was also formed by the PSD, PNL and UDMR. Thus, Cseke Attila will lead the Ministry of Development and Tancsoz Barna will be the Minister of Environment.