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Ludovic Orban announced on Monday night that he will resign as prime minister, after holding talks with President Klaus Iohannis at the Cotroceni Palace. “The decision has a precise objective: to start negotiations for a new government,” he explained.
In place of Ludovic Orban, President Klaus Iohannis appointed him as Acting Prime Minister of Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă. Initially, the Liberals discussed the option of Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan taking over the interim.
Agerpres
On Monday, President Klaus Iohannis signed the decrees signaling the resignation of Ludovic Orban as prime minister and appointing the acting prime minister, Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă.
“Today I made the decision to resign as prime minister. The decision we made has a very precise objective: once the will of the citizens has been expressed, negotiations must begin for the formation of a new government,” Ludovic Orban declared in the afternoon. of Monday.
Romania needs a “responsible” government that represents the desire of citizens who want to modernize and develop Romania, he said.
“I want to make today’s decision very clear: that I am not holding on to the post of prime minister, that the negotiations that will follow must lead to a government made up of center-right political parties that clearly support the Euro-Atlantic orientation. from Romania and who really want to use all the resources that Romania will have at their disposal, and also take advantage of the opportunities to be able to increase the quality of life of each and every citizen of Romania ”, added Ludovic Orban.
The government will be led by a cabinet member, who will be appointed by Klaus Iohannis, he said.
Who could be the new prime minister?
According to ProTV News sources, Deputy Prime Minister Raluca Turcan could serve as interim prime minister until a new government is formed.
The Liberals would consider Bihor City Council President Ilie Bolojan, Defense Minister Nicolae Ciucă and Finance Minister Florin Cîțu for the post of Prime Minister in the new government, according to some sources.
Cîțu was appointed by Iohannis to serve as prime minister in the spring as well, after Ludovic Orban was removed from office by Parliament. Cîțu presented his term as prime minister after two weeks.
Nicolae Ciucă was also considered for the post of prime minister, but refused at the time.
But after negotiations with USR-PLUS for the formation of a government coalition, Dacian Cioloș, who was also Prime Minister in the period November 2015 – January 2017, could be proposed.
Negotiations are also taking place in the camp of the Social Democrats. Already on Sunday night, Marcel Ciolacu announced his victory against the Liberals, with more than 30%. And the Social Democrats also have prime minister proposals, including Alexandru Rafila and Sorin Grindeanu, a former prime minister since February 2017, who passed a controversial ordinance 13.
Complicated calculations and scenarios about the new government
Negotiations for the future government started just before the elections, only the results changed all the calculations. The Social Democrats cannot form a majority, although they are announcing several names of prime ministers.
As such, the Liberals are already in talks with the USR-PLUS to get the majority.
However, without the UDMR and the PMP, no one can gather more than 50% of the votes in Parliament, necessary for the investment of a new cabinet. The ball will then move to the field of Klaus Iohannis, who will appoint the prime minister.
After a night of calculating on calculations, locked in his office, Ludovic Orban headed for Cotroceni. However, he avoided any public appearance, in which to give details about the negotiations for the new government.
The Romanian Constitution says that the party or alliance that obtains the absolute majority in the elections will also appoint the prime minister.
However, both NLP and PSD are far from being able to earn that percentage. The Liberals, who have about 25%, and the USR PLUS, with about 15%, were the first to announce that they will negotiate a future majority to take over the government, but even that would not be enough.
The difference in percentages could come from the party founded by Traian Băsescu, if the PMP obtained above the electoral threshold of 5%.
The president said on Monday that at the party leadership meeting that will take place on Wednesday or Thursday he will discuss with his colleagues that Alexandru Rafila will be proposed for the post of prime minister.
The Social Democrats rule out an alliance with the new party that entered Parliament, AUR, and its leader, George Simion, said that his party will not make any alliance with the current parties. Under these conditions, the Social Democrats are far from forming a government. However, experts assure that it will not be easy for the liberals, who will try to form a majority.
Orban, summoned to talks by Iohannis
Ludovic Orban was summoned on Monday by President Klaus Iohannis to discuss the result of the National Liberal Party in the parliamentary elections on December 6.
The announcement of the prime minister takes place in the conditions in which the PNL obtained a score lower than expected in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, and in a few days, once the electoral result has been validated, negotiations for the formation of a new government, after a parliamentary majority coagulates.
President Klaus Iohannis admitted on Monday that the low turnout could have been caused by the fact that many people are simply dissatisfied, with him, the parties, the entire political class or certain measures that have been taken.
Also on Monday, Iohannis highlighted that the electoral results show that there is no clear winner of these elections, and if we look at the provisional results for the moment we see that the NLP in 2016 obtained 20%, now it has obtained 25%, so a clear increase. The USR, for its part, together with PLUS obtained 8% in 2016, meanwhile they have 15%, obviously an increase, and the PSD, which had obtained 45%, fell dramatically to 29%.
He specified that a center-right coalition is crystallizing that may propose a coalition government and announced that in a few days it will convene consultations with the parties that won seats in the new Parliament.
On Tuesday, at 5:00 p.m., the president would meet with liberal leaders and members of the Government, according to News.ro
