A new government has been voted into power by the Romanian Parliament on Thursday, following an unprecedented rotation of prime ministers, wherein Marcel Ciolacu, the leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), took on the role in a cabinet that has retained certain key positions while rotating others, according to Euractiv.
During the parliamentary investiture procedure, Ciolacu expressed hope “to fulfil as many reforms and social promises as we have made from this platform”.
Opposition leader Cătălin Drulă, Union Save Romania (USR) president, accused the current government of lacking a consistent governance platform and described it as a copy-paste program. This statement was supported by Kelemen Hunor, the leader of UDMR, the former coalition partner, now in the opposition.
The new prime minister’s priorities include focusing on economic patriotism as part of the government’s strategy, aiming to promote the consumption of goods and services produced in Romania.
Several ministers have retained their positions from the previous Ciucă government, including Angel Tâlvăr (PSD) as Minister of Defence, Ligia Deca (PNL) as Minister of Education, Alexandru Rafila (PSD) as Minister of Health, Gabriela Firea (PSD) as Minister of Family, Youth and Equality of Chances, and Sorin Grindeanu (PSD) as Minister of Transport.
These sectors have faced significant challenges in recent years or months, either due to the international context (Defence) or domestic issues, like the recent largest teachers’ strikes in 18 years. Strikes in the public transport system, in the form of the Japanese strike, have also been announced in recent days.
There has been a shuffle of portfolios at the level of key ministers. Former Minister of Justice Cătălin Predoiu (PNL) has assumed the role of Minister of Internal Affairs, while former Minister of Finance, Adrian Câciu, has exchanged portfolios with Marcel Boloș, who previously headed the Ministry of Investments and European Projects. Sebastian Burduja, former head of Digitalisation, has taken over as Minister of Energy and replaced Bogdan Ivan, former vice-president of the IT&C parliamentary committee.
PSD holds ten positions in the government while the Liberals have secured nine ministers, including Justice (Alina Gorghiu) and External Affairs – Luminița Odobescu, previously the head of the Romanian Mission to the EU and a former presidential advisor.
The swap of prime ministers was a compromise that arose from the political protocol between the PSD, PNL, and UDMR, signed in 2021, with the aim of establishing a stable governance structure. Originally scheduled for May 25, the swap was delayed due to extensive street strikes within the educational system. If the teachers gave up strikes, the health and transportation workers would be the first Ciolacu government to have to deal with.
Apart from the domestic challenges, the head of the government expressed its properties in external affairs, among which to establish a defence hub for NATO and the EU, to continue participating in the reconstruction efforts in Ukraine and to offer solid support to Moldova.