The government rotation is postponed

The teachers strike changes the political agenda in Romania.

Ştefan Stoica, 29.05.2023, 14:00

The
agreement on which the coalition government is based and which was signed in
November 2021 stipulated that the leader of the National Liberal Party Nicolae
Ciucă would serve as prime minister for one year and a half and then step down
for the Social Democrat leader and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Marcel
Ciolacu to take over. The handover should have taken place last Friday, on 26th
May, but the leaders of the parties in the coalition, namely the National
Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Union of Ethnic
Hungarians in Romania, decided that this was not the right time to do it with a
teachers’ strike on their hands. They said the country needs stability so that
a solution can be found to the biggest social conflict in the last two decades.
Nicolae Ciucă:

We
had talks late into the night, we met again this morning and agreed that I
should not step down and retain the responsibility of prime minister until
these problems are solved. I hope that the conditions would be met as soon as
possible for the government handover within the coalition to take place.

The
Social Democrat leader Marcel Ciolacu proposed that political talks about the
distribution of ministerial posts should continue after the end of the strike.
Marcel Ciolacu:

It’s
a decision we stand by together; we will continue together – I, as speaker of
the Chamber of Deputies, representing Parliament, you, as prime minister,
representing the government – to try to solve this issue as soon as possible, a
legitimate issue by all means, that has been posed by teachers, but we must
also have the stability to find the most appropriate moments. Together we have
agreed that the number one priority in our governing programme are teachers and
the healthcare system.

The
leader of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania Kelemen Hunor is
not directly involved in the government rotation, but agrees that postponing it
is a necessary measure. The current coalition has the chance to do good things
for Romania, Hunor says:

I’m
still optimistic, I have confidence in our strengths and in the people because
I know we are going through a difficult period, but at the same time we have a
huge opportunity. In this decade, Romania can cross and will cross a road. At
the end of that road we will have a much better developed society, with better
public services, with stable institutions, with institutions that address
people’s needs.

From
the opposition, the leader of the Save Romania Union Cătălin Drulă has accused
the leaders of the ruling coalition, who have been negotiating the best
positions in the future rotation government for a few months now, that they are
disconnected from reality and has described the postponement of the rotation as
yet another proof of the failure of this coalition. They even failed with
respect to the project so dear to president Klaus Iohannis, Educated Romania.
Today, when the government handover should have taken place, we are faced with
the first general strike in the education system in the last 18 years, teachers
are in the street, the schools are closed and children are at home, said Drulă. (CM)