With plagiarism the word of the day in Romania and with the Baccalaureate exam in full swing, Romania has a new Education Minister, and her investiture was not without a new silent quarrel between the country's President and its Prime Minister.

Ecaterina Andronescu (in picture), from the ruling union the Social Liberal Union (USL) took the oath to be the country's new Education Minister on Monday evening (July 2 ). She is the third person to head the ministry since the USL took power. Andronescu previously ran the Education Ministry between 2000 and 2003.

Before the investiture ceremony, President Traian Basescu told the Prime Minister Victor Ponta that it would have been appropriate for the new minister to submit a statement saying she has not plagiarized her doctoral thesis or her scientific papers. However, the president did not raise the issue during the investiture ceremony. USL's first choice for Education Ministry Ioan Mang was in the middle of a plagiarism scandal and decided to step down earlier this year, soon after starting his mandate.

The PM himself is accused of plagiarism and a state commission ruled that his doctoral thesis is partially copied. He rejected the accusations however and said the commission's decision was void as it did not reach quorum.

In a gesture much commented on by the media, Traian Basescu handed Victor Ponta a red file at the end of the investiture on Monday evening, when the two also exchanged some words. Ponta later revealed that the red file included a letter about the change in constitution to revert to a four-year presidential mandate, saying he would resign in due time to allow presidential and parliamentary elections at the same time, in November.

The Romanian and the international media have been commenting on the quarrel between the Romanian President and PM, centered on the recent attendance of a European Council meeting, saying the political fight has been steering attention from the serious matters the country should be focusing on.

Corina Chirileasa, corina@romania-insider.com

(photo source: presidency.ro)