Designated by president
\nKlaus Iohannis for the second time in recent weeks to form a new government,
\nthe Liberal Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 managed this time around to persuade a majority of
\nMPs to endorse his team. This is thanks to the alliance of his party with the
\nSocial Democrats, who hold the largest number of seats in Parliament, and with
\nthe Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), a junior partner
\nof the Liberals in the ruling coalition ever since the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The USR had also been
\npartners in the same coalition, but following disagreements with the Liberal PM
\nFlorin C\u00ee\u021bu they decided to pull out nearly 3 months ago, and to back a
\nno-confidence motion tabled by the Social Democrats. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
For the UDMR, things are
\nrelatively simple: in the new government team, they get to keep the 3 ministries
\nthey headed before (regional development, environment and sports) and receive a
\ndeputy PM post as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The negotiations between
\nthe Liberals and the Social Democrats, on the other hand, were rather
\ncomplicated. The 2 parties eventually agreed on a rotation of prime ministers between
\nthem and managed to have the governing programme include vital measures which,
\nthey claim, are eagerly awaited by their voters. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Such measures include
\nearmarking 7% of GDP for investments, implementing the National Recovery and
\nResilience Plan and using the Anghel Saligny Investment Plan to
\nreduce development gaps between the country’s regions. Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 also promises
\nto raise child allowances, minimum wages, and public pensions. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Virgil Popescu, who will
\nstay on as energy minister, announced that as of early next year the mechanism
\nprotecting consumers from growing energy prices will be revised and measures
\nwill be taken to ensure households and companies are not affected.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Sorin C\u00eempeanu, who also
\ncarries on his term in office at the education ministry, says his first
\npriority is to set up a committee to work on a new education law. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As much as 70 billion euro
\nwill be invested in the next 10 years in transport infrastructure, says the Social
\nDemocrat Sorin Grindeanu, who also promises full transparency in terms of
\npublic spending at the transport ministry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Another
\nSocial Democrat, and the only woman in the new cabinet, Gabriela Firea, will be in charge
\nof a newly established ministry of youth and family. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In the context of the ongoing
\npandemic, testing and encouraging citizens to go to the doctor as soon as
\npossible, alongside with providing proper healthcare services, are the
\nshort-term measures planned by Alexandru Rafila, chosen by the Social
\nDemocratic Party to head the healthcare ministry. Dr. Rafila also spoke about
\nthe polarisation in the Romanian society and the rift between the vaccinated
\nand the unvaccinated. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberal C\u0103t\u0103lin
\nPredoiu, who was a justice minister in the past as well, says meeting the terms
\nof the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism is a goal for the new coalition,
\nalong with dismantling the special section investigating offences in the
\njudiciary and the amendment of the laws regulating the justice system. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\nNATO, the EU and the strategic partnership with the USA are the pillars
\nof Romania’s defence and security policy, says the new defence minister Vasile
\nD\u00eencu, also backed by the foreign minister Bogdan Aurescu, whose priority
\nremains the consolidation of Romania’s role and standing in the EU and NATO. (tr.
\nA.M. Popescu)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The new Cabinet comprises 20 ministers and has ambitious goals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":90176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[32992,29286,35233,30548,29382,29035],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-90454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-cabinet","tag-government","tag-liberal","tag-ministers","tag-social-democrats","tag-udmr"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n