A retired Romanian general who threw in the towel in early November was again tasked Monday with forming a government, the day after the announcement of a coalition agreement after two months of crisis.
The ruling liberals (PNL) and their former social democratic rivals (PSD) decided to ally themselves, and in the process President Klaus Iohannis asked Nicolae Ciuca to put together a team.
From the PNL, this 54-year-old outgoing Minister of Defense should remain in charge until mid-2023, before handing over the baton for a year and a half to PSD chief Marcel Ciolacu, under an agreement of " rotation ”concluded by these two formations.
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"In recent days, we have worked together to build a coalition (...), because Romanians are waiting for solutions to the pandemic and the energy crisis," said Nicolae Ciuca, adding that he would ask for a vote of confidence in Parliament on Thursday. This veteran of Afghanistan new to politics will have the tough task of reconciling the interests of the two former rival parties and their partner UDMR, the formation of the Hungarian minority. His military profile is likely to reassure Romanians, in a country where the army is one of the most respected institutions. The big winner of what analysts describe as an “unnatural alliance”, however, is the PSD. After having been strongly criticized because of an overhaul of justice decried by Brussels,this party will have nine of the 20 portfolios in the new executive, while it has been in opposition since 2019.
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On the other hand, discontent is mounting among the Liberals, who notably had to cede the Ministries of Defense and Finance and must be satisfied with eight portfolios.
PNL heavyweights blamed the outgoing Prime Minister Florin Citu, whose several controversial decisions in recent months have caused the collapse of the coalition set up after the legislative elections of December 2020. At the beginning of October, his government was overthrown by a motion censorship, in the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Two candidates, first the former European Commissioner for Agriculture Dacian Ciolos and then Nicolae Ciuca, then failed to form a government.
