Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu yesterday presented the new government structure, which does not include the representatives of the Democrat Party (PD) and will be subjected to parliamentary voting today.
PSD (Social Democrat Party), the main opposition party, announced it would support a reshuffled government that would not include the PD.
"PSD will not associate itself with any government who are to the right of politics, but will place its trust in a restructured government because we will strictly vote for the restructuring of the government and for removing PD from government," the social-democrat leader Mircea Geoana stated.
In response, President Traian Basescu sent a letter to Parliament yesterday claiming his constitutional right as mediator between the state and society on the grounds that the new government of PNL (National Liberal Party) and UDMR (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania) did not reflect the will of the people as manifested during the elections. Basescu demands that the parties' place their support towards the new government through a Parliamentary majority, or else organise early elections.
The new government comprised of the PNL and UDMR representatives should have - in case it successfully passes the vote by Parliament, 18 members (instead of the current 24). The specialised parliamentary committees started candidate hearings as early as last night. The new government should not have any trouble passing the vote in Parliament, as PSD yesterday announced it would vote in favour of the newly structured government and in doing so would choose the lesser of two evils (the current government that includes PD and the reshuffled government without the democrats).
The second Tariceanu cabinet therefore had the opposition sign its birth certificate, or else it would not have gained the 235 majority votes required for validation without PSD's 150 parliamentary votes. PNL and UDMR have only 123 votes together.
The most spectacular move, which ZF announced well over a month ago, is the merger of the Finance and Economy ministries, which will leave the commerce department under the control of a new ministry covering "SMEs, commerce, tourism and liberal professions."
Varujan Vosganian will run the resulting mega-ministry. The current Finance Minister, Sebastian Vladescu was axed from the cabinet and was not nominated for any position in the new Cabinet.
Those who have shown loyalty to the Prime Minister as critics of Traian Basescu and the PD, have received significant positions in the new government.
Ludovic Orban, 43, Bucharest deputy mayor, received control of the Transport Ministry, where he will be managing large amounts of EU funds.
The Interior Ministry, one of the most important portfolios in any administration, went to Cristian David (40).
The new governmental make-up brings two former ministers from two different governments, not only from different periods, but also in terms of politics. After ten years, Teodor Melescanu (66), former Foreign Minister with the PSD government, and Decebal Traian Remes (58), former liberal Finance Ministry during the CDR (Romanian Democratic Convention) are now both back in Cabinet.
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