The Social Democrats (PSD), Liberals (PNL), and Hungarian party UDMR were, at the end of December 22, close to agreeing over the share of the ministries in a joint cabinet to be appointed before the end of the year, such as to enact the quasi-austerity package of fiscal corrective measures already inked by the Ministry of Finance. 

The cabinet is expected to receive lawmakers’ endorsement on December 23. It is going to be a government with additional support from MPs of the ethnic minorities, Social Democrats’ leader Marcel Ciolacu stressed. 

The new ruling coalition resembles the structure of that behind the currently acting cabinet, backed by the Social Democrats and Liberals.

The Hungarian party and the MPs of the ethnic minorities are balancing the seats lost by the former ruling coalition, but the majority achieved without the participation of reformist Save Romania Union (USR), which avoided entering an arrangement without firm agreement on key reforms, is fragile even counting the ethnic minorities’ MPs. 

However, the cabinet, as sketched at the end of December 22, looks like one with a limited lifetime and, therefore, fragile support from the MPs of the ethnic minorities might be enough. A number of MPs from the far-right parties are likely to gradually migrate to those in the ruling majority. The presidential elections may result in a government reshuffling depending on the outcome.

As of now, the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR will notably manage the Finance Ministry – a first for the party that participated in a large number of cabinets over the past three decades, according to G4media.ro. Thus, neither the Social Democrats nor the Liberals will avoid taking responsibility for the austerity package, while the Hungarian party plays a major role as it will also manage the Ministry of Development – which it also managed in the past.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Viorel Dudău/Dreamstime.com)