PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and national minorities begin negotiations this week to form the Government, given that, after the cancellation of the presidential elections, they will go before President Klaus Iohannis, who is still in office, to nominate the head of the Executive.
A first step has already been taken by shaping a pro-European majority in the new Legislature, after the political parties signed a resolution to this effect.
The presidents of the four parties will participate in Tuesday’s discussion, according to HotNews.ro sources, after last week they signed an agreement by which, together with the representatives of national minorities in Parliament, they agreed to try to form a pro-European government. Marcel Ciolacu, Ilie Bolojan, Elena Lasconi and Kelemen Hunor are expected to participate in Tuesday’s meeting, but Varujan Pambuccian (representative of national minorities in Parliament) is also expected to take part in the discussions, according to HotNews.ro sources.
PSD considers itself entitled to nominate the prime minister and is counting on continuity in governance, with Marcel Ciolacu. The Social Democrats are to decide, in a leadership meeting, the proposal for prime minister with which they will go to negotiations, most of the party leaders wanting the position to be occupied by Marcel Ciolacu, already back at the head of the party after the failure in the first round of the presidential election.
The Social Democrats say that placing first in the parliamentary elections gives them the right to nominate the prime minister in the new coalition. Mihai Tudose, president of the PSD National Council, stated that his personal opinion is that the party that won the most mandates is the most entitled to nominate the prime minister, but they are not blocked in this project.
As for the new PNL interim leader, Ilie Bolojan, wanted by all parties in the campaign, could be confused by the low score recorded in the parliamentary elections.
Another option for prime minister is PNL president Ilie Bolojan, also wanted by both USR and PSD in the statements made by Elena Lasconi and Marcel Ciolacu in the presidential election campaign.
The Liberals, however, have a problem, related to the low score they recorded in the parliamentary elections and which confuses them in the nomination of the head of the Executive.
“If we are realistic, we cannot deny a record of the weights and this must be a sign of realism, so that when you enter a coalition, you size your forces correctly. There doesn’t have to be a specific person as prime minister, you need strong teams in government, you need professionals, you need a clear coalition program, on months, on vital projects, which will ensure that this coalition works on trust and you need parliamentary support”, Ilie Bolojan recently said.
The majority in Parliament is already taking shape. PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and the minorities have signed a resolution on the formation of a coalition that will ensure the stability of the government, in which they assume the responsibility of avoiding Romania’s international isolation, of supporting a solid pace of economic development and of protecting the country’s European path.
PSD sets conditions before negotiations for forming the Government
After a meeting that lasted approximately three hours, the PSD National Political Council decided to give Marcel Ciolacu a mandate to negotiate a government with the “pro-European forces” in Parliament – PNL, USR and UDMR. PSD will enter government only if the prime minister is given by the party and sets five other conditions for the other parties, said the party’s spokesperson, Lucian Romașcanu.
“Mr. Ciolacu was voted this mandate to negotiate with all the pro-European and democratic forces in Parliament. The mandate also includes requesting presence in the government and obtaining the position of prime minister,” said the PSD spokesperson, Lucian Romașcanu, after the meeting.
He said that for the moment it is premature to discuss a PSD-PNL tandem in the presidential elections that will be resumed next year. As for the position of prime minister in the future Government, he said that it does not have a name, because, for the moment, “principles” are being discussed.
“There are five fundamental principles that any coalition must accept in order for the PSD to be part of it:
1. maintaining the pace of investments at over 100 billion lei annually;
2. increasing purchasing power by continuing to reduce inflation and labor taxation, including capping prices for gas, energy and basic foods;
3. measures that subscribe to the notion of economic patriotism (supporting the Romanian private sector, plus maintaining the threshold for SMEs);
4. industrializing Romania;
5. state reform (more flexible government, reducing bureaucracy)”, Lucian Romașcanu argued.
He stated that “a pro-European party will have to remain in opposition. I won’t say who. There were colleagues who said we should form a government with USR, others said without USR. We’ll see what Mr. Ciolacu discusses in the negotiations.”
As for a possible collaboration with the radical right parties in the new Parliament, AUR, SOS and POT, Lucian Romașcanu said that PSD excludes this option: “This discussion was resumed and the voted decision was the same: no discussion for governing or collaboration with AUR or the other parties in the so-called sovereignist bloc”.
The PSD spokesperson also said that the new government should be invested by Parliament by the end of the year, and negotiations between the parties should be concluded by December 20.
Bolojan, willing for PSD PM, says no party should be left out
PNL President Ilie Bolojan stated on Digi24 that PSD is entitled to request the position of prime minister in a future pro-Western coalition, but warned that the future head of the Government will have a difficult mission to adopt the budget correction measures. At the same time, Bolojan assessed that all pro-Western formations in Parliament should be represented in the future government. “PSD has the largest number of parliamentarians and if PSD wants to assume its position, we must have a sense of reality. The position of prime minister will no longer be what it was, it will no longer be a position that prepares you to run for office. It will be a difficult cross to bear,” declared Ilie Bolojan.
On the other hand, Bolojan does not believe that one of the pro-Western parties should be left in opposition as the future cabinet will have to take tough measures for which it needs strong support.
“The big effort in the coming year is the effort to govern. The more stable the coalition is, the better things will look. The measures that will be taken will not be popular measures. Any budgetary correction means that you need strength and support. The more parties there are in the coalition, the harder it is to work, it is true, but the fact that we could behave civilly with each other would show that we understood the vote”, said Bolojan.
The PNL president also spoke about the need for the distribution of ministries between parties and the nomination of ministers to be done according to other criteria. Even if one party will be entitled to claim more ministries than another, each formation in the coalition will have to come up with a list of the most competent people it has in each field, and the distribution of ministries to be done taking into account the expertise of each one.
“Regardless of who will be prime minister or ministers, you need a strong team to be able to put the reforms into practice. The quarrels have always come from the unclear agenda of this coalition (…) We must not be hypocritical, each party has a proportion, but you must send the best qualified person. Not to say there “we could make an image, there we can block the others”. We have seen this before”, said the liberal Speaking of the “rage vote” of Romanians in the recent elections, the PNL leader said that, in order to avoid a repetition of the situation in the presidential elections in the spring, the political class will be forced to take measures even against itself, namely reducing spending that would also target state synecdoche. He mentioned reducing the number of ministries, allocating deputy prime minister positions only with portfolio, reducing the number of parliamentary committees, as well as positions in agencies and authorities. He mentioned the ASF, which he said would function very well even with only five members in the leadership forum.
Crin Antonescu proposes two names for PM
Former PNL president Crin Antonescu stated on Digi24 that at least three parties, if not all four, of those that make up the pro-Western bloc should support a single candidate in the presidential elections. On behalf of the liberals, he mentioned Ilie Bolojan or Eduard Hellvig as people who could assume such a candidacy.