Prospects for the Victoria Palace
After the legislative elections of December 6, the Social Democratic Party - PSD and the National Liberal Party - PNL are claiming their right to form the new government.
Roxana Vasile, 10.12.2020, 14:00
Five parties have entered the new Parliament in Bucharest, following the legislative elections of December 6. According to the final results provided by the Central Electoral Bureau, the Social Democratic Party won the elections with around 29% of the votes both in the Senate and in the Chamber of Deputies. It is followed by the National Liberal Party, with about 25% of the votes and the Save Romania Union-PLUS Alliance – USR PLUS, with over 15%. 4th ranked is the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), recently set up and barely known, which managed, to the general surprise, to obtain about 9% of the votes. 5th ranked with almost 6% is the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania — UDMR.
The legislative elections of December 6 in Romania saw the lowest turnout in the last three decades, about 32%. On Sunday evening, when the polls closed, the Social Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu and the liberal leader Ludovic Orban were both aware that their parties would not be able to govern alone. That is why PNL subsequently announced that it was starting negotiations for the formation of a parliamentary majority, and also of the future Government, proposing the current Finance Minister, Florin Cîţu, for the post of Prime Minister.
Ludovic Orban: “A difficult period will follow when we need people that have a good knowledge of the administration, of the public finances situation. We need a prime minister who has credibility in front of the business environment, in front of the international financial institutions. I think the finance minister is a very good proposal. I hope that, through negotiations, we will be able to form a parliamentary majority.”
PNL wants a majority in Parliament together with the USR-PLUS Alliance, UDMR and the representatives of the national minorities group, other than the Hungarian one. Negotiations are not going to be easy, though, given that the Liberals do not want to give up the Finance, Justice or Transport Ministries, which USR-PLUS would also like. On the other hand, the Social Democrats claim the position of prime minister, and want to designate medical professor Alexandru Rafila to the post, insisting that the countrys president Klaus Iohannis must appoint the prime minister proposed by PSD, 1st ranked in the December 6 elections.
Alfred Simonis: “We are imperatively asking the president to give up backstage plotting and respect the will of the voters, to be aware that he is the head of a state in a deep crisis, that the election campaign is over, and we also remind him that he represents Romania not the National Liberal Party.”
The Social Democrats say they will not vote in Parliament on any proposal for a Liberal prime minister and consider rejecting participation in the consultations with the head of state, if PSD is not the first party invited for consultations. (tr. L. Simion)
