Until recently sworn political enemies, the National Liberal Party and
\nthe Social Democratic Party were forced to form a government together 6
\nmonths ago. Together with the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania,
\nthey set out to synchronise their doctrines and form a coalition able to run
\nthe country until the forthcoming parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
It took lengthy and careful negotiations to assign the seats in the
\ngovernment, and they agreed, among other things, that until the end of November
\n2023 the prime minister will be the Liberal Nicolae Ciuc\u0103, who will be replaced
\nby a Social Democrat for the remaining period until the general elections of 2024.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The context in which the two parties have to work together is not at all
\neasy: the effects of the pandemic, the Russian invasion in neighbouring Ukraine
\nwith all the problems it entailed, the skyrocketing energy prices triggering increases
\nin the price of all products and services and generating record-high inflation,
\nwith severe repercussions on people’s lives. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
With the parliamentary election still a long way down the road, the
\ncooperation between the Liberals and the Social Democrats is smooth, at least
\nfor the time being. Still, the 2 parties presented a review of their 6 months
\nin power in separate meetings.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Liberal PM Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 said the government was gradually drawing
\ncloser to meeting all the goals listed in the governing programme. He added
\nthat the ministries worked hard not to waste the unique opportunities the
\ncountry has at this point. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania has the biggest economic growth rate in the EU, and over EUR 90 billion
\navailable for development and modernisation, as well as the most important
\nsecurity guarantees ensured by the EU and NATO membership, Nicolae Ciuc\u0103 argued.
\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, the Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu focused on the
\nsocial and economic measures to support citizens and the business environment
\nin the first 6 months in government. He mentioned the raise in minimum wages,
\npensions and child benefits, the winter financial aid granted to low-income pensioners
\nand the extension of furlough benefits. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The opposition sees things differently. After leaving the government
\nthey had formed together with the Liberals, Save Romania Union now argues that
\nRomania is headed for disaster: the government is borrowing money from the
\ncapital market for the highest interests in the past 20 years, government debt
\nis over 50% of the GDP, the inflation rate is record-high, prices are out of
\ncontrol, citizens are growing poorer while party clients are getting richer. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In turn, the nationalist party AUR believes the Social Democrats and the
\nLiberals have pushed Romania into bankruptcy by doubling fuel prices and
\nselling the natural gas to be extracted from the Black Sea. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
But it is the Romanian voters who will give a final verdict at the
\nelection in 2024. (AMP)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Liberals and the Social Democrats looked back at their government work after 6 months in office<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":74116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[40572,32984,30247,29286,35233,31837,35110,40571,29382],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-92362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-6-month","tag-coalition","tag-elections","tag-government","tag-liberal","tag-opposition","tag-parties","tag-review","tag-social-democrats"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n