Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca quit to hand the premiership to a coalition partner in a power-sharing deal aimed at maintaining stability in a country buffeted by political upheaval.
(Bloomberg) — Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca quit to hand the premiership to a coalition partner in a power-sharing deal aimed at maintaining stability in a country buffeted by political upheaval.
Ciuca, a 56-year-old retired army general, stepped aside after almost 19 months in power to let Social Democratic leader Marcel Ciolacu take the prime minister’s seat. Both agreed on the swap arrangement in 2021 after Romania ground through seven prime ministers in less than a decade.
The swap was delayed by a few weeks because of a teachers strike. After several failed attempts, Ciuca managed to convince the unions to drop the protest by approving higher wages and pledging to improve working conditions.
“We are starting the procedures to complete the rotation and we plan to have a new cabinet installed by the end of this week so we can carry on with handling the issues of the country,” Ciuca said on Monday.
The agreement between Ciuca and Ciolacu has provided a semblance of stability, allowing the ruling coalition to tap European Union funds and ramp up work on long-delayed infrastructure projects aimed at raising living standards across the Balkan state’s developing economy.
Romania attracted record foreign direct investment of almost €11 billion ($11.9 billion) last year. Ciolacu is expected to continue supporting infrastructure projects and has vowed to fulfill pledges to shrink Romania’s budget deficit to the bloc’s 3% limit next year.
But as a Social Democrat he may also be inclined to raise public wages and pensions as other state workers protest and put pressure on the cabinet, demanding higher wages after the highest inflation in two decades.
After consultations with President Klaus Iohannis, who has the right under the constitution to nominate the prime minister, Ciolacu, if designated, has as many as 10 days to present a cabinet and win approval from parliament.
Iohannis has said previously that he won’t oppose the power swap if there’s agreement inside the coalition.
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