Romania’s four-party ruling coalition is on the brink of collapse: On Monday, the Social Democrats (PSD), the largest party in the government, withdrew their support for the liberal prime minister Ilie Bolojan over proposed reforms and austerity measures, calling on him to resign and threatening to withdraw the PSD ministers from the cabinet if he refused. Bolojan, however, said he has no intention of stepping down and accused the PSD of trying to shirk its responsibilities.
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No easy task for the president
The Romanian service of Deutsche Welle holds out hope that the president will step in to mediate:
“Romania will be gridlocked if President Nicușor Dan fails to find a way out of this crisis with the four pro-European parties. The PSD has signalled that it is willing to continue to govern, but only under a new prime minister. So the simplest solution for Nicușor Dan would be to get rid of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan. But there is widespread sympathy for the leader among the population and plenty of people have already taken to the streets in a spontaneous show of support.”
Champagne social democrats
On G4Media.ro, journalist Dan Tăpălagă is not surprised to see the Social Democrats turning their backs on the government’s reform agenda:
“The previous government of PSD and PNL left behind a country mired in debt and at the same time blocked all the painful but necessary reform measures. … Now the PSD is again sabotaging the move away from a consumer-based economic model financed by foreign debt. This model, which amounts to bankruptcy, is the one on which all PSD governments of recent years have built their political success: enjoying themselves at the expense of others.”
Frustration with politics exacerbated
The business paper Ziarul Financiar is worried:
“The last thing we need in the present economic climate is a political crisis, especially if all it does is strengthen the sovereigntist currents in the opposition. In short, people’s dissatisfaction with politicians, parties, the political class and the current political system will grow. The situation is making the public and businesses increasingly jittery. The looming political crisis will only exacerbate their stress, mistrust and unease about the current situation.”