President Klaus Iohannis has told a press statement on Tuesday afternoon that he doesn’t agree the reshuffle proposed by the government, asking PM Viorica Dancila to come up with other proposals or with interim ministers, as he considers the current proposals as not suitable.
“Regarding the proposed government reshuffle. I analysed the situation and, in my opinion, the reshuffle is a kind of prank. It has nothing to do with improving the governance, even if we would need that, it has nothing to do with the Romanians’ agenda, is caused by a reckoning inside PSD. Therefore, I think this reshuffle is void,” Iohannis argued.
The head of state also said that he won’t take note of the resignations of the three ministers-Tudorel Toader, Natalia Intotero and Rovana Plumb, and that he is waiting for PM Dancila to submit other proposals.
“I won’t take not of these resignations until I know which people take over the portfolios. I told the premier to look for me and to let me know when she has the proposals. The proposed persons are not prepared, they are not fit to take these positions”, the president pointed out.
In case that replacing the ministers through a government restructuring in Parliament is attempted, Iohannis warned he would treat this as “an attempt to avoid the President” and will analyse “what legal actions are in order”.
In response to the President’s denial, PM Dancila changed the course and sent the proposal for interim ministers to Cotroceni Presidential Palace: Ana Birchall for Justice, Eugen Teodorovici for European Funds and Radu Oprea for Diaspora.
PM Dancila considered the decision of President Iohannis to reject the proposals for the three portfolios as “unacceptable and baseless”.
“I am a person of dialogue and I have tried to have a preliminary talk with President Iohannis. I see with regret that the president refuses the institutional collaboration and that, through his actions, he is preventing the proper functioning of the Government. Unfortunately, the electoral campaign remains for president Iohannis a much higher stake than the continuation of the ministries’ activity and enforcement of the government measures, in the Romanians’ benefit”, says the head of the Executive.