Talks continue on the formation of a new government

Prime minister designate Ludovic Orban continues to seek support for a Liberal government among parties in Parliament.

Roxana Vasile, 23.10.2019, 13:50

The prime minister designate Ludovic
Orban seems to be having difficulty convincing other opposition parties to
support his cabinet and programme, not least because nothing is known about who
will be in his government and what measures this new government intends to
take. While bringing down Viorica Dancila’s Social Democrat government in a
vote of no-confidence brought together all opposition forces, the latter now
appear to be driving a hard bargain in exchange for their support for a new
government. As the National Liberal Party, with the public encouragement of
president Klaus Iohannis, was the initiator of the no-confidence motion, they
reserved the right to form a new government on their own. While the motion was
passed with 238 votes, current numbers don’t even add up to 233, the number
needed for the new government to take office.

From the very beginning, the
co-signatories of the no-confidence
motion either had conditions or said they would wait to see the actual list of
new ministers before giving their backing. After a new round of intense talks,
Ludovic Orban says he is confident in the chances of his government:

We have reached an agreement on
almost every point. We have agreed a collaboration framework with almost every
political party, which will take the form of agreements to be endorsed by the
leaderships of the National Liberal Party and of other parties. We are in
effect on the right path. We have made considerable steps forward and I remain
confident that we have big chances to form a government.

Calin Popescu Tariceanu, the leader
of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, says an agreement was reached
vis-a-vis the conditions placed by his party, namely maintaining the flat tax, no
emergency orders in the area of the judiciary and the continuation of major
infrastructure projects. The leader of the People’s Movement Party Eugen Tomac,
who seemed rather disappointed with the way talks went, did not say whether his
party will back the new government in Parliament. Kelemen Hunor, the leader of
the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, says there is a big
chance for the new government to be voted in, but that his party wants written
guarantees that the state budget will allocate 6% for education and that the
single-round voting system for mayors remains in place.

The leader of the Save Romania Union
Dan Barna has proposed the Liberals a political agreement:

Obviously, this is not a blank
cheque with regard to the government’s make-up. We’ll wait to see the actual
list. I think we’re very close to giving our support.

Under the Constitution, Ludovic
Orban has to present Parliament with a cabinet and programme by the end of the
week.