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Tag: Social Democrat Liviu Dragnea

  • A new Government, a new programme

    A new Government, a new programme


    The political formula on the basis of which the new Tudose Cabinet has been formed by the ruling coalition in Romania, made up of the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania, is the same as the previous one. Also, 16 members of the former cabinet headed by Sorin Grindeanu, sacked last week under a no-confidence motion filed by his very own party, are also members of the current government. Grindeanu lost the office following accusations that he failed to implement the governing programme with which the Social Democratic Party won parliament election in December 2016 with 45% of the votes.



    Tudoses cabinet has been endorsed by only 275 MPs, by 20 votes less than the Grindeanu team, which could be read as a sign that not only the winners euphoria six months ago started to wear out, but also the cohesion of the parliamentary majority. The Prime Minister himself has stated that Romania does not need a relaxed government, but one that needs to keep alert at all times. He has assured parliamentarians that his objective is to make up for the delays in implementing the governing programme.



    Mihai Tudose: “I do not want to criticize what was before, but I understand there were some brakes involved. I was told to turn these brakes into a gas pedal, and that is what I am going to do.”



    The iron-fist of the governing coalition, the leader of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea, has too stated that the programme must be observed, no matter the political costs entailed, and that is why Grindeanu had to go:


    “There were mistakes in the governing process, but we have the strength to admit that. We will be more careful and we will make sure that the deadlines in the governing programme are observed.”



    The problem, however, as pundits have pointed out, is that the programme of the newly instated team is significantly different from the one that Grindeanu was supposed to implement. Several measures concerning pay rises in the public sector have been postponed and the introduction of new taxes and fees is also envisaged. The junior partner in the coalition, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, has announced through its spokesperson Varujan Vosganian that their support to the prime-minister is conditional.



    Varujan Vosganian: “If there are talks on redefining the flat tax by means of quotas re-designed below the existing ones, than we are willing to talk, but any changes in this flat tax translated into increasing the taxation level, no matter how we may call such a deviation, then the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats will not be a party to this.”



    Also conditional was the vote of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania, as its leader Kelemen Hunor has pointed out:


    “This vote is not a blank cheque. We will not support the idea of a tax on turnover and we should also be explained what this solidarity tax is meant to stand for. The global income tax is not something to change the situation for the better either. “



    The right-wing opposition was quick to react sarcastically to the current situation. The MPs members of the Peoples Movement Party attended neither the plenary session, nor the voting, and the National Liberal Party voted against the new government and criticized the changes brought to the governing programme. Here is the Liberal MP Ben Oni Ardelean:


    “The National Liberal Party believes that proceeding like this, you are going to destroy the country. What you are doing now is throw away all Romanias chances.”



    On behalf of his party, the Save Romania Union, MP Cristian Seidler was also categorical:


    “Mr. Mihai Tudose, you and your colleagues in the Social Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats have lost any legitimacy to rule this country.”



    Just like a tough principal facing a class of problematic students, president Klaus Iohannis has been extremely critical of the new ministers. “The country is facing a crisis because you were not able to govern it” the president said, blaming the government for changing sensitive elements of the governing program.



    He also called on the new ministers to put an end to what he described as a fiscal-budgetary hop-on, hop-off, as some ministers of the new cabinet have already started to raise controversy. Even before he was sworn in, the Finance Minister Ionut Misa announced the dissolution of the so-called 2nd pillar of the private pension fund. Soon after, though, the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea termed the announcement as non-sense and Minister Misa took back what he had said earlier. However, the statements have already had a huge impact, causing trouble in the stock and forex markets.




  • Political Crisis in Bucharest (update)

    Political Crisis in Bucharest (update)


    The Romanian Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanus refusal to resign, although pressured by his own Social Democratic Party, the main force in the ruling coalition in Romania, has created a bizarre first on the Romanian political scene after the 1989 anti-communist revolution. On Thursday, the National Executive Council of the Social Democratic Party decided to file a motion of no-confidence against its own Cabinet, formed after winning Decembers parliamentary elections with 45% of the votes.



    Moreover, and quite predictably, the Executive Council decided to punish him through exclusion, after the coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Romania (ALDE) had withdrawn its political support for the premier. The leaders of the coalition, the Social Democrat Liviu Dragnea, who is also the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies and the Liberal – Democrat Senate Speaker Calin Popescu Tariceanu have stated that the decision was necessary, given that the government has not been able to fulfill most of the objectives included in the governing programme.



    Prime Minister Grindeanu, however, has rejected the accusation, saying that six months in office are not enough to carry out large-scale reforms. Moreover, Grindeanu, imposed at the helm of the Government by the very head of the Social Democratic Party Liviu Dragnea, has stated that the report that assessed his activity, drawn up by somebody from inside the party, is not an objective one, and he didnt even have access to it.



    To analysts, removing Grindeanu is the Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragneas express wish, who is unhappy with the fact that the Prime Minister has turned from a docile lieutenant into an independent character, whose autonomy has become disturbing. On the other hand, the Grindeanu Government has failed to impose pieces of criminal legislation that would make Dragneas life easier, as he was given a suspended sentence of two years in prison in one case, and he is also being prosecuted in another case, in which his situation is rather complicated.



    Romanias President Klaus Iohannis has called on the ruling coalition to urgently settle the political crisis in order to avoid destabilizing the country. The presidential administration has stated that the parties in the coalition have the obligation to seek a solution. It remains to be seen how the Social Democratic Party is going to solve the crisis and if the opposition, usually rather absent, will take advantage of a unique situation.