PM reshuffles Finance Minister Nazare

Prime Minister Florin Cîțu announced Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare that he is reshuffling him just before today’s government meeting, government sources told HotNews.ro. The request for his dismissal has already been sent to President Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace.

According to sources, the Finance minister refused to resign and told the prime minister that he had done his job in Finance, and that results that can be seen and that they had been noticed even by the institutional financial institutions.

In retort, the prime minister would have told the FinMin that it is not up to these things, but to the team.

The same sources also revealed that Florin Cîțu intends to take over the position of Minister of Finance himself, as interim.

Nazare is the second minister to be reshuffled, after Vlad Voiculescu sacked from the Health Ministry in April.

The above-mentioned sources disclosed that a discussion on reshuffling Nazare took place on Wednesday evening, with the PNL chairman Ludovic Orban opposing Florin Cîțu’s intention.

Liberal sources claim that the decision of reshuffle is not related to Nazare’s performance at the Ministry of Finance, but rather to the PNL election campaign.

According to them, the Minister of Finance does not agree with the budget allocations that Cîțu has in mind for the Liberal mayors.

The conflict between Cîțu and Nazare is older, the prime minister blocking his Ministry’s reorganization plan and digitization projects. PNL leader Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday that from his point of view no liberal minister should be reshuffled, as he was satisfied with their work.

PM Florin Citu intends to run for the PNL’s chairman position against the incumbent leader Ludovic Orban.

At the same time, sources said that PM Citu already has a name in mind for the Finance portfolio. It is the chief of his internal electoral campaign for the PNL’s leadership, Dan Vîlcean. He is Liberal deputy of Gorj, head of the party’s Gorj organisation.

Orban’s retort

PNL chair Ludovic Orban has stated that “there is no reason at all” for Nazare’s reshuffle and that the outgoing FinMin’s activity was “a source of pride”. Orban mentioned that the reshuffle had not had his consent nor the party’s.

“I want to believe there is no connection between the fact Alexandru Nazare was not in the picture and was reshuffled. I want to believe, although it is very difficult, that this is not a revenge,” Orban said.