A Former European Commissioner Designated Prime Minister of Romania

On Tuesday, Romania's President Klaus Iohannis officially entrusted Dacian Ciolos with the formation of the new government.

Roxana Vasile, 11.11.2015, 13:30

The name of the
potential new Prime Minister of Romania had been unofficially known for days.
On Tuesday afternoon, the relative uncertainty of that nomination was ended by
the announcement made by Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who officially
entrusted Dacian Ciolos with the formation of a new government, following the
ousting of Prime Minister Victor Ponta, after major demonstrations by
protesters, angered by graft and lethargy in the government. People marching
the streets for days in a row called for a change, especially through the
formation of a government made up of technocrats.

After consultations with
parliamentary parties and civil society representatives, Klaus Iohannis decided to appoint Dacian
Ciolos, a man with no party affiliations in Romania. The parties, the President
said, should no longer promote people suspected of or charged with corruption.
New people are needed to improve the political class in Romania, and the new
technocratic government must be made up of specialists, above any suspicion,
the president also said.

Klaus Iohannis: In
order to solve the problem of governing the country, and to have guarantees
that the performance of the Romanian political class will improve, we need an
independent or technocrat Prime Minister, a clean and honest person, somebody
who has proven they are able to manage complicated circumstances.

The new Prime
Minister designate has 10 days to set up and present his team, to govern the
country until next year’s parliamentary elections.

One
year is both long and short. It’s long because we will not limit ourselves to
certain actions and strictly administrative decisions. On the other hand, it is
too short a period for starting and finalizing the reforms that society has
long been waiting for.

46 year-old Dacian
Ciolos graduated from the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary
Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, in western Romania, and furthered his education in
France. Currently a special advisor on food security to the European Commission
President, he was an Agriculture Minister in Romania between 2007-2008, and
European Commissioner for Agriculture between 2010-2014. In a country where the
ministers accused or suspected of corruption are quite many, Dacian Ciolos
enjoys the reputation of a spotless integrity and moral probity.

After his
appointment as Prime Minister, he announced his intention to hold consultations
with civil society and, provided Parliament votes in his favour, to work
closely with the political parties represented in Parliament. The National
Liberal Party, the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, the
National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Alliance of Liberals and
Democrats for Europe have stated they agree with this nomination. The Social
Democratic Party, on the other hand, has announced it will state whether they
support or not Dacian Ciolos after he has presented his team and governing
program.