Prospects for the new Government
The new Government of Romania, headed by Dacian Ciolos, has begun work.
Roxana Vasile, 18.11.2015, 14:20
Romanias new cabinet headed by Dacian Ciolos scheduled its first meeting the day after the endorsement in Parliament. There is a lot to be done by next autumn, when the parliamentary elections are due, and Romanians have great expectations, voiced by tens of thousands of people in the streets. At least for now, politicians seem to have understood their message. After the Social Democrat Victor Ponta stepped down, the President entrusted the former European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos with the task of putting together a new team of ministers without political affiliation, with experience in the private sector or European institutions. President Klaus Iohannis:
“This is your chance to prove how to govern Romania properly, in a very complicated year and with high expectations from the society, from the people, but you must also be aware of the expectations of politicians. I firmly believe that everybody wants everything to run like clockwork, and for this to happen we need an efficient government.
The Cabinet headed by Dacian Ciolos Tuesday got Parliaments vote of confidence, with 389 votes. There were also 115 votes against and 2 invalid votes. The statements of the main parliamentary party leaders also indicated the support given to the new government at the start of its term. The Social Democratic Party president Liviu Dragnea announced his partys support, which is nonetheless conditional on how the new ministers comply with their mandate:
“We will support the Ciolos Government as long as we are confident that it will work within the limits of the powers granted to them, as long as they carry on the economic measures adopted by our government.
The co-president of the National Liberal Party, Alina Gorghiu, believes the newly sworn in Cabinet is a solution to the current political crisis:
“Today we choose a solution which comes from the citizens, and the National Liberal Party believes in this solution. We will back the new Government, because we trust it is a good formula and a solution to this political crisis.
While the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the other ethnic minorities represented in Parliament announced their support for the Ciolos Government, the Peoples Movement Party, the National Democratic Group and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats voted against it. Although he says he appreciates the new PM, the co-president of ALDE, Calin Popescu Tariceanu does not believe in a technocratic government:
“I do not doubt your good intentions, but you should also know that you, your good name and the reputation that you have built through your own merits, may be, without your knowledge or permission, part of a plan schemed one year ago in order to remove, at any cost, a government that had come to power in a democratic process and in full compliance with all parliamentary procedures.
After the new ministers were sworn in, Tuesday night, in the presence of President Klaus Iohannis, a ceremony was also held in which Dacian Ciolos formally took over the PM position. On this occasion, he made a brief presentation of his team:
“These are people who invested a lot of time and energy in their work, which they have now put aside for a while and chosen to offer their skills as part of a team which, I hope, will be able to see through the mission given to it by Parliament.
In the short and medium run, the new Government is to put together the public budget for 2016 and to organize next years local and parliamentary elections. Its targets also include drawing up a 10-year investment plan, a national development strategy, and reforms in public education and healthcare, as well as strengthening Romanias role in the EU and NATO, the countrys strategic partnership with the USA and supporting the European accession efforts of the neighbouring Republic of Moldova.
(translated by AM Popescu)
