Parliamentary parties prepare for negotiations

President Klaus Iohannis on Monday called a consultation with parliamentary parties with a view to forming a new Government

Roxana Vasile, 08.10.2021, 13:50

Ever since Tuesday, when the minority government made
up of PNL and UDRM and led by Liberal Florin Cîțu was ousted following a
no-confidence vote in Parliament, pundits have expected parliamentary parties
to push their agendas, divergent as they may seem, which will hinder the
creation of a new coalition that would survive an investiture vote. And they
were right to do so. The Social-Democratic Party in opposition, the party that
tabled the no-confidence motion, said it would not support a Liberal minority government
and says snap elections are the best solution. Social-Democrat president Marcel
Ciolacu.

I believe Romania needs a stable government, and from
where we stand, there is only one option: early elections. Until then, we need
a technocratic government.

The Social-Democrats’ option is shared by another
opposition party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). The USR-PLUS
alliance, which until September was a junior partner in the ruling coalition,
despite firmly opposing Prime Minister Florin Cîțu, voted to oust him, and now
wants the ruling coalition to be restored, and a Cabinet led by a new prime minister.
USR-PLUS president, Dacian Cioloş:

We have no reasons to support a Liberal minority
government, when we can support a joint government with the Liberals. Each party
appoints its own ministers, as we’ve done so far, but if the Liberals want to
nominate Florin Cîţu as minister, then so be it, but we will oppose any
decision to nominate him as prime minister.

The Liberals, however, have chosen to nominate Florin
Cîțu! Besides, according to Dan Vîlceanu, a former finance minister in the
outgoing cabinet, the coalition with USR-PLUS can be remade, although he named
a number of conditions:

They left Romania without a government at a time when they should think about
the people more and less about political gain. I want this crisis to be over as
quickly as possible, but this will depend on how quickly they realize they’ve
made a mistake and that Florin Cîţu is the president of the Liberal Party. You
can’t demand terms to a party that grabbed double your votes in the last
election.

Amidst this political chaos, president Klaus Iohannis
will have the final say. The president however expressed skepticism about finding
a way out of this deadlock:

We need to find a way out of this crisis, because the
Government fell victim to its own vanity. The constitutional procedure is quite
clear. I will invite parliamentary parties to consultations and together with
those who are more mature and responsible, we will find a way out of this
crisis.

The head of state said early elections are nearly
impossible to be organized in the near future, given the pandemic and the
soaring energy prices. (VP)