Update: Prime Minister Dacian Ciolos and the ministers of his Cabinet took the oath of office on Tuesday evening at the Cotroceni Palace, with President Klaus Iohannis attending the ceremony.
Klaus Iohannis said that the Ciolos Government has all legitimacy and told ministers they can go straight away to put their projects, programmes and policies into force to the benefit of the country. ” Politicians, sooner or later, will tell you that in fact you don’t represent them. It is a fundamental error. The Government, this Dacian Ciolos Government, has absolutely all legitimacy. It received it through the investiture vote in Parliament,” Iohannis pointed out, underlining that this independent Government is a “step towards the political class reconnected to the voters, towards the political class people want.”
Later on, while attending the mandate take-over at Victoria Palace, the Romanian president vowed that he would never try to tell the Government what to do or to impose it something, mentioning that ministers will find a partner in him.
In his turn, PM Ciolos thanked President Klaus Iohannis for the confidence vested in him and also thanked former interim PM Sorin Cimpeanu for how he conducted his tenure. “You have asked me to come up with a team of independents who have left their business aside to pool up their skills in a team that I believe will carry through its tenure,” Ciolos told Iohannis.
Ciolos Government on Tuesday got the Parliament’s investiture vote by 389 votes to 115 and two annulled votes.
During debates, PSD, PNL, UDMR, UNPR and the national minorities group announced they would endorse the technocrat government submitted by former European Commissioner Dacian Cioloș, while ALDE and MP said they would veto it. Former premier Victor Ponta missed the plenary sitting. The swearing-in ceremony was scheduled at Cotroceni Palace on Tuesday at 7 p.m., while the first new government’s weekly sitting is due on Wednesday.
After receiving the confidence vote, PM-designate Ciolos told MPs that the Parliament will have “a permanent, open partner” in his government, while thanking for the messages the lawmakers delivered through this vote.”I cannot but thank you for this confidence, for the message delivered regarding this one-year mandate. I consider that, through this vote, you understood and accepted what we proposed doing, that you accepted the transparency that we granted to make this legitimacy that the Romanian Parliament transferred to this technocrat Government render the confidence to the Romanian citizens that the governmental act is for Romanians and that this thing can help us regain the self confidence and move on,” Ciolos stated.
Before the vote, premier-designate Dacian Cioloș addressed the plenary sitting of the joint chambers of Parliament convened to vote on the new Cabinet’s investiture. Ciolos told MPs that the new Government will be based on transparency in the decision-making, on responsibility and openness to dialogue.
At the beginning of his speech, Ciolos paid homage to the victims of the ‘Colectiv’ club fire, saying that these tragedies shouldn’t repeat anymore so that the causes underlying this tragedy, corruption, should be cut out.
“I’m paying homage to the ‘Colectiv’ victims and to their families, my thoughts are next to them. It’s a moral duty that we should all assume, and together we should remove the causes of this tragedy, particularly corruption,” the premier-designate stated, pointing out that people expect, more than ever, a change of the way the country is managed, while the governing programme should meet these expectations.
Ciolos also said that the duty of this government will be to lay grounds of the upcoming structural reforms and that it will ground on transparency, responsibility and openness to dialogue.
The PM-designate underlined that Romania is going through “a critical moment” and ‘that’s where this government term has sprung’. Ciolos argued that his target was to bring incorruptible experts in the governmental team.
The new premier concluded his speech with a quote of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, where he is asking Divinity the strength to change what could be changed, the patience to accept what it cannot be changed and the wisdom to differentitate the two previous things.
375 deputies and senators were present at the Tuesday’s plenary sitting. To be invested, the government needs the favourable vote of a half plus one of the total MPs, meaning 274 votes in favour. The vote is secret, by use of urns and colored tokens.
The Social Democrat Party, the National Liberal Party and the Democrat Union of Hungarians in Romania previously said they would vote for the Cabinet submitted by the former European Commissioner Dacian Ciolos.
PSD chairman Liviu Dragnea explained on Tuesday that his party’s vote for Ciolos Cabinet is not a blank cheque and that the Social democrats would endorse this cabinet only if it carries its activity within the mandate given by the Parliament, if it ensures fair elections and stays away from political manipulation.
Liberal co-president Alina Gorghiu told the plenary sitting that the big gain of this Government shift is that “PSD has lost power and it’s not keeping its hand on the reins anymore.” Gorghiu also stated that the new Gov’t will have a partner in PNL, but also a critical voice. The other PNL co-president, Vasile Blaga pointed out that Ciolos Gov’t is not ‘a raincoat’ for bad weather, but it will have to repair what Ponta’s ruling has been breaking and that it will have to manage and build.
In his turn, UDMR president Kelemen Hunor said that Magyar MPs would vote Ciolos Cabinet, but the Unions is expecting a future endorsement for minorities.
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) co-chairman Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced that his party will vote against the investiture of the Ciolos Government, stating in the plenary sitting that “technocracy will kill democracy.”
Former president Traian Băsescu, current leader of the People’s Movement also announced that his party would veto the new Executive, slamming the governing programme and some minister nominations and naming Ciolos government ‘the new USL Govt’. (USL-Social Liberal Union made of Social Democrats and Liberals).
President Iohannis: This Cabinet’s mission will not be easy
President Klaus Iohannis wrote on Facebook that the confidence vote granted to Ciolos Gov’t by the Parliament is a proof that parties have understoond that a technocrat Government is the best option for Romania at this point.
The Romanian president also said this new Government’s mission will not be an easy one, but that he trusts that every member of the governmental team would prove to be professional.
“Ciolos Cabinet will have a difficult mission, and achieving the goals assumed in the governing programme won’t be possible without a consistent parliamentary support. I am confident that each member of the governmental team will treat the entrusted mission with responsibility and professionalism. Good luck!,” Iohannis ends his post.