Romania has a new bourgeois government under Prime Minister Ludovic Orban. Parliament approved Orban and its 17-strong Cabinet with 240 votes, seven more than necessary. He was helped by voices from the previous Social Democratic government camp. For future legislative initiatives, Orban will have to seek a parliamentary majority with a minority government.
With the arrival of the new government, the way is clear for the nomination of a new candidate for the European Commission, which has long been expected in Brussels.
Immediately after his electoral success, Orban said that after consulting with President Klaus Iohannis, he would present a Commission candidate "as soon as possible". The proposal will be "the best for Romania". Previous proposals by the government had been rejected in Brussels. Former Transport Ministries Rovana Plumb, for example, had rejected the EU Judiciary Committee for not being able to dispel inconsistencies regarding a loan.
The 56-year-old Orban is chairman of the former opposition party PNL (National Liberal Party), which belongs in the EU Parliament to the conservative EPP Group. He replaced Social Democrat Viorica Dancila, whose government had been overthrown by a vote of no confidence in parliament almost a month ago.
Next decision: Are early elections coming?
Orban will run the business until the new election of Parliament next year. Whether this election takes place regularly in the autumn or is preferred, was initially unclear. The small ecumenical party USR, which is supported by Orban's government, had emphatically demanded an early re-election. Orban had to negotiate hard in the past few weeks with a total of five smaller parliamentary parties to get their support.
One of them, the left-liberal party Pro Romania of the ex-Prime Minister Victor Ponta, had withdrawn Orban's support at the last moment. However, some pro-Romania parliamentarians denied Ponta their allegiance on this point and voted for Orban.
Next Sunday, the first round of the presidential election takes place, with the head of state Iohannis is considered a favorite. Iohannis is supported by Orbans PNL. However, it is not expected that Johannis or his opponent immediately gets the absolute majority, so that there should be a run-off vote two weeks later.