Romanian president Nicu\u0219or Dan appointed independent Luca Niculescu on Monday, October 5, to \u201charmonize positions\u201d expressed by political parties and form a new government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe choice came following today\u2019s consultations<\/a>. I chose the person who has the best chances of securing a majority. Over the past four years, he has been working on Romania\u2019s accession process to the OECD; he has worked for the Romanian state,\u201d Nicu\u0219or Dan said.<\/p>\n Niculescu will now have to hold talks with parliamentary parties and form a majority \u201cdeeply anchored in the Western direction,\u201d according to the PM-designate.<\/p>\n \u201cI will hold talks with the parliamentary parties to build a majority and agree on a realistic government program. I will not promise miracles, but what I can promise is seriousness in the use of public money, predictability for the economy, respect for commitments, accelerating reforms and a state that functions as well as possible,\u201d Niculescu said.<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NicusorDan.ro\/videos\/1647713663377984<\/a><\/p>\n Born on April 25, 1971, in Bucharest, Luca Niculescu graduated from the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences at the University of Bucharest (1995) and holds a master\u2019s degree in European Journalism from the University Centre for Journalism in Strasbourg (1996).<\/p>\n According to Digi24<\/a>, between 1992 and 2016, Luca Niculescu worked as a journalist. He was editor-in-chief of RFI Romania, as well as a program host on several television stations: Money Channel, TVR 1, Digi24. Mainly specialized in international relations, he had a weekly column in Dilema Veche for five years. At the same time, he was a permanent correspondent in Romania for French media outlets (France Info, France Culture, France Inter, TV5, and the daily newspaper Lib\u00e9ration).<\/p>\n Between 2016 and 2022, Luca Niculescu was Romania\u2019s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France, the Principality of Monaco and the Principality of Andorra. In this capacity, he also represented Romania in relations with international organizations based in Paris, particularly the OECD and the International Organisation of La Francophonie. He was also president of the Group of Francophone Ambassadors in France (GAFF) between 2019 and 2022.<\/p>\n Since September 2022, Luca Niculescu has been secretary of state at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Coordinator for Romania\u2019s accession process to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).<\/p>\n This is the fourth nomination made by the Romanian president. So far, Nicu\u0219or Dan has designated Eugen Tomac, who stepped down, and Adrian Ve\u0219tea and Siegfried Mure\u0219an, who failed to obtain a vote of confidence from Parliament.<\/p>\n Before Monday\u2019s consultations, political sources cited by Digi24<\/a> indicated that Social Democratic leader Sorin Grindeanu and Liberal-backed interim finance minister Alexandru Nazare were among the options being discussed for the position of prime minister. However, that quickly changed before the president\u2019s announcement in the evening.<\/p>\n Prime minister-designate Luca Niculescu has 10 days to present the list of ministers and the government program and to request a vote of confidence from parliament. To be invested, he needs 233 votes.<\/p>\n Political parties were careful with their initial statements regarding Niculescu. The leader of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians party (AUR), George Simion, said<\/a> that the PM-designate is \u201calso a puppet,\u201d and will therefore receive \u201czero votes from AUR.\u201d<\/p>\n In turn, Petri\u0219or Peiu, one of AUR\u2019s leaders, announced that the party\u2019s MPs will not vote for the government that prime minister-designate Luca Niculescu will propose, stressing that AUR will not participate in the vote.<\/p>\n The Social Democrats said, through the voice of the party president, that the new nomination \u201ccontinues to defy parliamentary mathematics.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter four right-wing prime ministers have failed, we are seeing another appointment that does not take into account the party that won the elections. It is the president\u2019s choice,\u201d Sorin Grindeanu wrote on his Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n The PSD leader said that the Social Democrats’ National Permanent Bureau will hold a meeting on Tuesday, October 6, to analyze the new possible government.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the prime minister-designate continues to support Bolojan\u2019s austerity policies, I believe there is no other way to put Romania back on the right path than to hold early elections. I want to put an end to Romania\u2019s interim governments!\u201d the Social Democratic leader also said.<\/p>\n Finally, the spokesman of the National Liberal Party, Ionel Bogdan, said that the formation took note of the nomination. He added that PNL will hold talks with Niculescu and analyze the forthcoming government program before making a decision regarding the investiture vote.<\/p>\n Save Romania Union Party (USR) president Dominic Fritz said he welcomes the nomination of Luca Niculescu for the position of prime minister, but added that his party will not vote for a government that includes PSD ministers.<\/p>\n \u201cHe is a respected diplomat, renowned for the professional execution of the missions entrusted to him, for example, Romania\u2019s accession process to the OECD. USR will analyze the program, the team of ministers, and the majority supporting him. We will discuss with the prime minister-designate how he intends to ensure that the government can deliver results, as USR ministers have delivered,\u201d Fritz said on his Facebook page.<\/p>\nWho is Luca Niculescu?<\/h2>\n
Context<\/h2>\n
Gathering support<\/h2>\n