After three unsuccessful attempts, the independent diplomat Luca Niculescu was elected as Romania’s new prime minister on Tuesday. In the parliamentary vote in Bucharest, 280 MPs voted for the 55-year-old and 58 against. He will now head a minority government, with 12 of the 18 ministerial posts going to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and 6 to independent technocrats.
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Diverting attention and stoking emotions
The ruling PSD will rely on votes from the opposition AUR party, political expert Sorin Ioniță writes on the Contributors website:
“AUR will officially oppose the government but – along with other [right-wing nationalist] parties – it will cooperate effectively with the PSD on political issues, appointments and legislative initiatives. … In any event, the PSD and AUR speak the same language. They talk of sovereignty, traditions and family, they stoke mistrust of Brussels, and they criticise Ukraine and Zelensky. Disputes on identity and values generate cheap but guaranteed emotions, mobilise the public, and divert attention from tedious issues such as the budget deficit, reforms and the administration.”
New alternatives on the horizon
The right-wing nationalist AUR party could lose influence after the change of government, according to Maszol:
“The new political landscape is good news for Romanian democracy – insofar as it still exists. The [liberal-conservative] PNL and the [centrist] USR will be the most vocal opponents of the Niculescu cabinet, not AUR. Alongside [AUR leader George] Simion and his allies, another alternative to the government could emerge within the next two years. For this to happen, it would also be necessary for the majority of voters to stop equating Ilie Bolojan with austerity policies – assuming he is able to survive the major upheaval now looming as party leader.”