Romania has a new cabinet

Romanias brand new government was sworn in on Wednesday

România Internațional, 06.03.2014, 13:18

The new cabinet made up of the Social Democratic Party, the Conservative Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians was sworn in on Wednesday before president Traian Basescu. This puts an end to a period of tension and political uncertainty mainly caused by the withdrawal of the National Liberal Party and the break-up of the Social Liberal Union. Before the swearing-in ceremony, the president said he had reached a verbal agreement with the prime minister, who promised that his cabinet would seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on the new governing programme after the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians entered the cabinet.

“I hope the government will respect its part of the agreement, just I have respected mine. It should be understood, however, that the notification filed by the Liberal Democratic Party and the People’s Movement Party will still have to be resolved, unless these two parties withdraw it. I think it is very important to have a ruling on the matter by the Constitutional Court, given that we are faced with an unprecedented situation.”

Traian Basescu wished the new ministers success and said he was impressed by the large number of young ministers in the new Ponta cabinet, something which, in his opinion, will bring more creativity to the application of the governing programme. He also hailed the return to government of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which he described as “old allies, always reliable when you have an agreement with them”. The prime minister confirmed he would submit a new political programme to Parliament to update the governing platform:

“I will present Parliament with an updated version of the governing platform next week. This means the notification filed with the Constitutional Court is no longer valid and the government can carry on with its duties in peace.”

For the time being, both the president and the Liberal Democrats and People’s Movement Party, in opposition, who challenged the legitimacy of the new cabinet at the Constitutional Court, are waiting for a court decision on the matter. The Constitutional Court must rule whether it was indeed necessary for the new Ponta cabinet to come up with a new governing platform following the split with the Liberal Party and the entry of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians into the government. The president of the Court, Augustin Zegrean, also acknowledged the novelty of the entire situation.