The Romanian parliament voted on Thursday for a new government to take power, after an unprecedented rotation of prime ministers, with Marcel Ciulacu, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), taking over his role in the government that retained some key keys. positions while rotating others.
During the parliamentary inauguration proceedings, Ciolacu expressed his hope to “fulfill as many social reforms and promises as we have made through this programme.”
Opposition leader Catalin Drulu, president of the Union Save Romania (USR), accused the current government of lacking a coherent governance platform and described it as a copy-and-paste programme. This statement was supported by Kelemen Honore, leader of the UDMR party, former coalition partner, now in opposition.
The new Prime Minister’s priorities include focusing on economic patriotism as part of the government’s strategy, with the aim of boosting the consumption of goods and services produced in Romania.
Several ministers retained their positions from the previous Ciuca government, including Ángel Talvar (PSD) as Defense Minister, Ligia Deca (PNL) as Education Minister, Alexandru Ravilla (PSD) as Health Minister, and Gabriela Feria (PSD) as Minister. Family, Youth and Equal Opportunities, and Sorin Grindeanu (PSD) as Minister of Transport.
These sectors have faced significant challenges in recent years or months, either due to the international context (defence) or domestic issues, such as the largest recent teachers’ strikes in 18 years. In recent days, strikes in the public transportation system, in the form of the Japanese strike, have also been announced.
There has been a mix of ministerial portfolios at the level of key ministers. Former Justice Minister Catalin Bredoyo (PNL) took over the position of Interior Minister, while former Finance Minister Adrien Cassio exchanged ministerial portfolios with Marcel Bülow, who previously headed the Ministry of European Investments and Projects. Sebastian Bordoya, the former head of digitalization, took over the post of energy minister, replacing Bogdan Ivan, the former vice-chairman of the parliamentary committee on information technology and control.
The Social Democratic Party holds ten positions in the government while the Liberals have nine ministers, including the Minister of Justice (Alina Georgiu) and Foreign Affairs – Luminita Odubescu, former head of the Romanian Mission to the EU and a former presidential advisor.
The exchange of prime ministers was a compromise arising from the political protocol between the PSD, PNL and UDMR, signed in 2021, with the aim of establishing a stable governance structure. The swap was originally scheduled to take place on May 25, but was postponed due to widespread street strikes within the educational system. If teachers abandon their strikes, health and transport workers will be the first the Ciolaco government has to deal with.
Aside from internal challenges, the Prime Minister expressed his qualities in foreign affairs, including establishing a NATO-EU defense centre, continuing to participate in reconstruction efforts in Ukraine and providing strong support to Moldova.
(Manuela Protiassa/Sebastian Rotaru | EURACTIV.ro)
