January 17, 2018 UPDATE
President Iohannis has designated the Social Democrat Viorica Dancila as the new Prime Minister
Newsroom, 17.01.2018, 19:49
PRIME MINISTER – The President of Romania Klaus Iohannis announced on Wednesday having decided to give the Social Democratic Party, the senior partner in Romanias ruling coalition, another chance. He designated the MEP Viorica Dăncilă as the new prime minister, following a nomination made by the Social Democrats. The head of state explained that he had made his decision after consultations with the parliamentary parties, having weighed all arguments and taking into account the situation in Parliament, where the Social Democrats have a comfortable majority. Iohannis has emphasised that the Social Democratic Party made important promises, and it now has to prove its ability to keep them. He invited all those involved in forming the government to take all the required steps so as to finalise the procedure by February 1 and to make sure the new Cabinet may start working. On Wednesday the President had talks with the parliamentary parties on the designation of a new prime minister, after Mihai Tudose resigned, having lost the political support of his party. The Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said that by designating Viorica Dăncilă as PM President Klaus Iohannis made a choice for stability. He announced Parliament would be convened in special meeting on January 29 for the new Cabinet to be sworn in.
GOVT MEETING – This weeks Cabinet meeting was headed on Wednesday by the interim PM, Mihai Fifor. He has decided to dismiss the chief of the Romanian Police, Bogdan Despescu, and to appoint Cătălin Ioniţă for an interim six-month term to replace him. The decision follows a scandal triggered by last weeks arrest of a police worker under accusations of sexual assault and paedophilia. Amid suspicions that the policeman had been protected by his superiors and fellow police officers, a clash broke out between the Interior Minister, Carmen Dan, and the former PM, Mihai Tudose, who eventually stepped down on Monday night.
DIPLOMACY – Foreign Minister Teodor Meleşcanu said in Bucharest on Wednesday, after a meeting with his Italian counterpart, Angelino Alfano, that he was confident Italy would continue to support Romanias Schengen accession efforts. The two officials agreed to start preparations for the third joint meeting of the two governments. Meleşcanu emphasised that the Romanian-Italian relations, relying on a two-decade-long strategic partnership, are excellent, with bilateral trade standing at nearly 14 billion euros in 2017.
PRISONS – The Government of Romania Wednesday endorsed a 2018-2024 roadmap for solving the problem of prison overcrowding and of detention conditions, in order to implement an April 2017 ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. According to the Justice Ministry, the measures include legislative changes aimed at reducing the number of prisoners, improving detention conditions, investments in penitentiary infrastructure, implementing programmes and strategies targeting the social inclusion of former prisoners, and the introduction of electronic surveillance. The measures are also intended to facilitate the transfer of Romanian citizens detained in other EU member states. According to the document passed by the Government, over 23,000 people are currently detained in Romanian facilities, and the occupancy rate is 121.5%. The Romanian Justice Minister, Tudorel Toader, discussed in Strasbourg on Tuesday with the head of the ECHR, Guido Raimondi, about the measures taken by Bucharest to improve penitentiary standards. The deadline for Romania to come up with the penitentiary improvement roadmap was January 25.
(translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)
