Romania's ruling coalition reveals list of ministers in the Marcel Ciolacu government
Romania’s two major parties, the Social Democrats (PSD) and Liberals (PNL), which together form the current coalition government, have approved the list of ministers to be part of prime minister-designate Marcel Ciolacu’s new government.
Much of the new cabinet is the same as the one led by former PM liberal Nicolae Ciuca, now president of the Senate. Ciuca resigned on June 12 as part of the so-called rotation of power agreed with the ruling partner PSD. In turn, social democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu has been nominated to form a new government.
Some ministers have been replaced, while others have been moved from one ministry to another. The former minister of European funds Marcel Boloş, from PNL, is set to take over the Ministry of Finance, and Sebastian Burduja, also a liberal, will move from the Ministry of Digitization to the Ministry of Energy.
The minister of Internal Affairs will be Cătălin Predoiu (PNL), the former minister of justice. The Ministry of European Funds will be led by former minister of Finance Adrian Câciu (PSD). Minister of Transportation Sorin Grindeanu (PSD), minister of Defense Angel Tîlvăr (PSD), minister of Labor Marius Budăi (PSD), minister of Health Alexandru Rafila (PSD), and minister of Education Ligia Deca (PNL) will keep their posts, according to Ziarul Financiar.
As the Hungarian minority party, UDMR, is no longer part of the ruling coalition, its ministers have been removed from the new cabinet. The ministries they headed, namely the Ministry of Development and the Ministry of Environment, were taken over by PNL. The third one, the Ministry of Sport, no longer exists. Former UDMR minister of sports Eduard Novak wrote “RIP Romanian sports” in a post on Facebook as a response cited by News.ro.
The full list of ministers named for the new government:
PSD: Sorin Grindeanu (Ministry of Transportation); Adrian Câciu (Ministry of European Funds); Florin Barbu (Ministry of Agriculture); Radu Oprea (Ministry of Economy and Tourism); Angel Tîlvăr (Ministry of Defense); Gabriela Firea (Ministry of Family and Youth); Bogdan Ivan (Ministry of Digitization); Marius Budăi (Ministry of Labor); Alexandru Rafila (Ministry of Health).
PNL: Sebastian Burduja (Ministry of Energy); Alina Gorghiu (Ministry of Justice); Ligia Deca (Ministry of Education); Luminiţa Odobescu (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Marcel Boloş (Ministry of Finance); Cătălin Predoiu (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister); Mircea Fechet (Ministry of Environment); Adrian Veştea (Ministry of Development).
The list of ministers and the government program have been submitted to Parliament on Tuesday evening, June 13, and the schedule for the hearings in joint specialized commissions of the Parliament has been set for Wednesday.
The vote on the investiture of the Ciolacu government is scheduled for Thursday at noon. If the new coalition government passes the Parliament vote, as it is likely to, Romania will officially have a new government.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos | George Calin)
