What does the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition promise in their ruling programme? The alliance will be named the National Coalition for Romania

The list of ministers and the ruling program of the new PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition were submitted to the parliament on Tuesday evening by the appointed prime minister, Nicolae Ciucă.

“We submitted the governing program of the coalition. The program is based on the following principles: resilience, stability, transparency, equity and efficiency. It has the Romanian citizen at its center,” Ciuca said at the Parliament Palace.

He said that this is the first time that the amounts allocated for investments in the government program represent 7% of GDP, and PNRR represents the “axis”. According to Ciuca, it is also envisaged to reduce the gap between local communities by implementing the “Anghel Saligny” Program.

The governing program of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition stipulates that 40% of county and local roads will be modernized, 3,000 km of county roads will be rehabilitated, and 10,000 km of local roads or streets will be rehabilitated.

At the same time, the ruling program of the executive led by Nicolae Ciucă mentioned that the multimodal transport points will be developed so that the passenger traffic and the freight transport will take place with the minimum possible waiting times.

The programme envisage that access for citizens to a high-speed road (express roads or highways) should take place within a maximum of one hour from any point of departure in the country.

Social welfare

The new coalition also pledges to increase the pension point by 10% next year, to 1586 lei, as well as to rise the contribution to Pillar II by one percentage point until 2024. The minimum social allowance would rise from 800 lei to 1,000 lei. Regarding the 6 categories of service pensions, they will be recalculated starting from the principle of contributivity, respecting the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court.

The Coalition also envisages increasing contributions to Pillar II of pensions by a percentage point from 3.75%, as it is now, after the transfer of social security contributions to employees, to 4.75% in 2024. Elimination of the exemption facility from payment of the social health insurance contribution for the natural persons who have the quality of pensioners, for the pension incomes that exceed 4,000 lei.

Child allowance are also to increase as of January 1 to RON 243, for children over 2yrs. The allowances for children aged 0 to 2 is up to RON 600.

The minimum salary for 2022 will be  RON 2,550.

The aim is to “limit the duration of the application of the minimum wage for a person to a maximum of 24 months, during which time the employer will benefit from state support for the qualification of the salaried employee at the level of the minimum wage”.

As for the measures on Health, PSD, PNL and UDMR promise to reach a threshold of 10 million vaccinated people in 90 days, free testing for the employees in the essential sectors and antiviral medicines in pharmacies based on prescription.

Political agreement

According to the political agreement sealed by PSD, PNL and UDMR, their alliance will be named the National Coalition for Romania. The agreement will be signed on Thursday before the Government being invested. The document contains 12 points and is valid during the duration of the parliamentary mandate, till 2024.

Among the 12 points in the deal, it is mentioned that the Coalition sittings will take place on a weekly basis or as long as it is necessary. The PM and the members of the Cabinet will attend these meetings as well.

The sittings will approach topics on the government and parliamentary political agenda and decisions are taken by consensus.

Among other agreements:

1.  The signatory parties agree on the formation of the National Coalition for Romania – governing coalition for the period 2021-2024;

2.  The first candidate for the position of Prime Minister, from the PNL, supported by the 4 signatory parliamentary formations, is Mr. Nicolae Ionel Ciucă. He will have a mandate until May 25, 2023, and the second candidate, from PSD, until the 2024 general elections;

3.  When the prime minister is replaced, according to the agreed political rotation, the following government representatives will be replaced: the deputy prime minister from PSD will be replaced by the deputy prime minister from PNL; the Minister of Transport from PSD will be replaced by the nomination for this portfolio from PNL, and PSD will take over the Ministry of European Investments and Projects; the Minister of Public Finance from PSD will be replaced by the holder for this portfolio from PNL, and PSD will take over the leadership of the Ministry of Justice; the coordinator of the General Secretariat of the Government from PSD will be replaced by the PNL representative, and PSD will take over the coordination of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister;

4.  In case of his appointment, according to the constitutional provisions, he will present to the Parliament for approval a government composed of 20 ministries, the nominations being made as follows: 9 PSD ministries, 8 PNL ministries, 3 UDMR ministries. The structure of the executive will also include 2 deputy prime ministers, who will represent the coalition parties that did not propose the candidate for prime minister, but have members in the Government.

5.  The decisions of the Coalition are binding on all persons supported in public office by it. The revocation of these persons may take place after consultation with the political party that made the proposal. The decisions of the Coalition are public, and the debates within the decision-making mechanisms of the Coalition are confidential until the decisions are taken.