December 13, 2016 UPDATE

President Klaus Iohannis begins talks with the political parties in the new parliament

Newsroom, 13.12.2016, 00:05

CONSULTATIONS – On Wednesday President Klaus Iohannis begins talks with the political parties elected into the new parliament in Sundays legislative elections. Iohannis has said the new Parliament will most likely convene next week. He has also pointed out that the integrity criteria with respect to the nomination of the new prime minister, which he announced before the start of the election campaign, remain in place. Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the Social Democratic Party, announced he declined the invitation to talks and said he was waiting for the new Parliament to be validated. The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats shares this position.

LIBERALS – Raluca Turcan is the interim president of the National Liberal Party, unanimously elected by the party leaders after president Alina Gorghiu and other prominent members resigned following the poor performance of the party in Sundays parliamentary election. Raluca Turcan will head the Liberal delegation taking part on Wednesday in the consultations with President Iohannis on the appointment of a new prime minister.

LEGISLATION – The PM of Romania, Dacian Ciolos, takes note of the Social Democratic Partys proposal to postpone some provisions in the Fiscal Code for a year, and is considering the legal effects and the timeliness of such a decision. According to a news release issued by the Government, PM Dacian Cioloș expects the Social Democratic Party, the winner of the legislative elections, to keep its promises and the governing programme presented to citizens during the election campaign, and to take responsibility for the fiscal policy and legislation already endorsed by Parliament. Prior to this news release, some information suggested that the PM had already accepted the request of the Social Democratic leader.

EURO – The inter-ministerial committee in charge with Romanias switch to the European single currency will be chaired by the Prime Minister, and will also include the finance minister and the governor of the National Bank of Romania as vice-presidents, under a resolution passed by the Government on Tuesday. The Government stands by its commitment to adopt the Euro, but the date will be set according to a calendar defined by the time of the forthcoming edition of the convergence programme, namely April 2017.

HANDBALL – Romanias womens handball team Tuesday defeated the Czech Republic, 30-28, in main group 2 of the European Championships in Sweden. Romania is to play next against Denmark, in a decisive game for Romanias qualification into the next stage of the competition. Romania is coached by the Ambros Martin, from Spain, who last month replaced the Swedish Tomas Ryde, the one who was in charge of the national team when it won the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships in Denmark.

(translation by: Ana-Maria Popescu)