The reshuffle is postponed

In Bucharest, president Klaus Iohannis has said that a new possible government reshuffle will be postponed until after 1st of December

Corina Cristea, 23.11.2018, 13:55

There will be no other ministerial change this week, and the new reshuffle proposed by the Social Democratic Party, in power together with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, will be analysed after the celebrations of the Great Union Centenary and the National Day on 1st December. This announcement was made by president Klaus Iohannis, who argued that national holidays must be celebrated properly. His statement comes only a few days after he accepted six of the eight proposals made by the Social Democrats for various reshuffled ministerial posts in Viorica Dancilas government, rejecting the nomination of Lia Olguta Vasilescu for transport minister and that of Ilan Laufer for regional development minister. The two are unsuitable for these jobs, said president Iohannis, without further explanations.

The rejection generated a quick and vehement reaction from Ilan Laufer, who is a Romanian Jew, and who accused Klaus Iohannis, pointing out that he is an ethnic German, of “a new act of anti-Semitism. In response, the president, supported by the Jewish community, firmly condemned the use of very sensitive language for political purposes, emphasising that references to anti-Semitism and Nazism in political disputes are irresponsible and show a grave lack of education, culture, diplomacy and knowledge of history.

The Social Democratic Party made a new proposal, namely that Lia Olguta Vasilescu, who has so far served as labour minister, should take over the ministry for regional development, while Mircea Draghici, the partys treasurer, should take over the transport ministry. According to the president, this is not good government. “Its unacceptable to keep changing ministers. How can a government work with two reshuffles in one week? I wont contribute to this situation. The government is complete, it should get to work, said the president.

This is the Social Democrats third government in two years. 70 people have been in and out of the government in all this time, Klaus Iohannis also said. In his opinion, the best thing for Romania is to replace the entire government, who, he says, has created a lot of problems for the country. Prime minister Viorica Dancila said earlier that the reshuffle is meant to improve the performance of the government, not least in the run-up to Romanias taking over the EU Council rotating presidency on 1st January, 2019. (Translated by Cristina Mateescu)