[ad_1]
After Ludovic Orban resigned as prime minister due to worse-than-expected election results, Iohannis quickly appointed Defense Minister and former Army Chief of Staff Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca in his place.
Ciuca is new to politics – he joined the PNL (center-right) only in October – and does not have its own political power base. By appointing the general, with whom he worked closely in the Supreme Council of National Defense, Iohannis greatly increased his own influence over the government. Ciuca is the interim prime minister for now, but press reports suggest that he will be appointed permanently.
“Ciuca will be a loyal prime minister who will apply the president’s policies,” said political analyst Cristian Pirvulescu.
However, the elections also weakened the position of Iohannis, who is officially above party politics, but is a former mayor of the Sibiu NLP and provided clear help in the NLP campaign to the detriment of the Social Democratic Party.
The election was marked by a record low turnout of less than 32 percent, due at least in part to the coronavirus pandemic, and increased support for the far right.
Although it seems likely that the PNL could form a government with the centrist USR-PLUS and a smaller party, the PSD is in a strong position to block the constitutional changes proposed by Iohannis and probably the main parties in the next government. These changes would enshrine anti-corruption measures in the Constitution and strengthen the independence of the judiciary.
But such changes would require the consent of 75 percent of lawmakers, including a significant number of those in opposition benches, led by the PSD.
The PSD has been badly affected by corruption scandals for many years, but it remains popular with a significant portion of the electorate, especially in rural areas. Voters were less affected by the pandemic, so they were more willing to vote. They were also warned of the party’s promises to increase pensions and benefits, while reducing income taxes.
Appearing frequently with Orban at the inauguration of infrastructure projects and other events in the run-up to the elections, Iohannis was a fierce critic of the PSD, whom he accused of hindering the country’s development. The PSD spent much of Romania’s post-communist era in power.
“Iohannis made his presence felt in the NLP campaign, but if you look at the result, people don’t seem to have appreciated it, even if the price of the loss was paid by Orban,” Magdin said.
Ciuca, the new prime minister who will also remain defense minister, said the government’s first priority would be to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. The second wave of the pandemic has a serious effect on Romania: there have been 213 associated deaths in the last 24 hours, a record number.
