Romania has been without a full government since early May, when the Social Democratic Party (PSD) left the centrist government coalition and voted against the Liberal-led Bolojan government together with the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians party.
Previously, Dan said that there could be no further delay, while Ilie Bolojan issued an ultimatum calling on him to nominate a candidate. After the nomination, the designated PM is expected to negotiate with the parliamentary parties to form a majority.
The president’s consultations will begin at 9 AM with the Social Democratic Party and will continue every 30 minutes with another party in this order: AUR, the National Liberal Party (PNL), Save Romania Union Party (USR), the Hungarian minority party UDMR, the national minorities group, and smaller parties.
So far, PSD has indicated that it could support a government led by a technocrat or an independent, but only if it has ministers in the future cabinet, while PNL and USR have said they will support a government of “genuine technocrats” only if the ministers “will not be connected to PSD offices.”
Among the names put forward for PM are PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu and PNL MEP Siegfried Muresan, each backed by their respective parties. USR also chose to support Muresan.
Current finance minister Alexandru Nazare is also mentioned as a possible prime minister, especially after Nicușor Dan attended his wedding over the weekend and then said that he wanted it to be publicly known that he appreciated his work.
Although he was a member of PNL, Nazare is now independent, having been brought by Bolojan from the National Bank to the Ministry of Finance.
Consulting the parties is a mandatory step, provided for by the Constitution, before appointing a person, but the president skipped this procedure before appointing Adrian Veștea in June. In the end, Veștea did not manage to obtain Parliament’s vote.
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