It is difficult to say whether this
\nmoment is ending a complicated situation within the government in Bucharest or
\nis actually deepening the crisis of a very sensitive ruling formula. Although
\nVlad Voiculescu was seemingly ready to carry on with the job, the country’s
\nPrime Minister Florin Citu decided to call on the president to sack Minister
\nVoiculescu. The last straw seems to have been the release of some regulations
\non the quarantine measures to be imposed on some regions without the consultation
\nof the Prime Minister or state secretary Raed Arafat, head of the Department
\nfor Emergency Situations, presently coordinating Romania’s fight against the
\nCovid-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Andreea Moldovan, a controversial
\nstate secretary with the Health Ministry, has also been sacked. She is the one
\nto have signed the new quarantine criteria. Vlad Voiculescu’s resignation has
\nbeen asked for quite some time now by the public opinion and politicians alike.
\n<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The former Minister’s support
\ncame from the alliance, which proposed him for this position. USR Plus boasts
\nthe largest number of votes in the ruling coalition second only to the National
\nLiberal Party (PNL), which has also nominated the Prime Minister<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
After the legislative elections
\nin December, Florin Citu’s cabinet has been forged and enjoyed support from the
\nPNL, USR Plus and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. In
\nParliament it also benefits from the support of the Group of National
\nMinorities in Romania. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In other words, every MP of this
\nparties must enjoy support so that the government may function in its present formula.
\nVlad Voiculescu’s mandate took place against the dramatic background of the
\npandemic, which is seeing its third wave these days in Romania. Furthermore,
\nthe last 4 months of this government have seen tragic events, which enraged the
\nRomanian society. In late January, a blaze ripped through the section where the
\nmost severe Covid-19 cases were being treated at the National Institute for
\nInfectious Diseases Matei Bal\u015f in Bucharest killing five patients. Others died
\nlater from wounds in the hospitals they were transferred to. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Already under public scrutiny,
\nthe country’s healthcare system grabbed the highlights again on April 9th,
\nafter live transmissions from the evacuation of the orthopedic hospital Foisor
\nin Bucharest had been aired. Foisor was to be turned into a hospital for the
\nexclusive treatment of Covid infections but live footages during the evacuation
\nprocess at midnight in cold weather have enraged the Romanians. Political
\nreactions seemed to have been appeased on Monday in the wake of the USR’s
\nsupport for its minister. However, on Tuesday, a new tragedy struck at another
\nmajor hospital in Romania, the Victor Babes hospital for the treatment of
\ninfectious diseases. The faulty functioning of the oxygen machines fitting a
\nmobile unit for the treatment of Covid-infected patients killed another three
\npeople at the aforementioned hospital. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
(bill) <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romanian president Klaus Iohannis has signed a decree sacking the countrys Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu. The decision has serious political consequences and comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic has gained momentum in Romania<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":87969,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[35389,35374,35563,40230,40042,34814,35983],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-citu","tag-covid-19","tag-florin","tag-foisor","tag-moldovan","tag-vlad","tag-voiculescu"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n