Luca Niculescu, the newly appointed prime minister on Monday by President Nicușor Dan, stated that he accepts this responsibility with full awareness of the difficulty of the moment.
He said he will hold discussions with parliamentary parties and will present, in the coming days, the government program and the ministers who will go before Parliament.
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“I accept this responsibility with full awareness of the difficulty of the moment. Romania has been going through a long period of political uncertainty, in an economic and international context that, in turn, is difficult.
The first mission will be to build a parliamentary majority to vote for a government that will be deeply anchored in Romania's European and Euro-Atlantic direction. In the following days, I will publicly present the result of these consultations, the government's priorities, and the team with which we will implement them,” stated Luca Niculescu.
The designated Prime Minister specified that he cannot promise miracles, but he promises “seriousness in the use of public funds, predictability for the economy, respect for Romania's commitments, acceleration of investments and reforms, and a state that functions as well as possible for its citizens, meaning for all Romanians.”
“A stronger state also means a better-protected state, and in the context of a war at the border, we need firmness and vision to defend Romania. And protecting a country also means a society capable of resisting disinformation and manipulation. And here we need to strengthen our antibodies. We need a period of stability and construction, and I believe we can have it,” said the designated Prime Minister.
Luca Niculescu spoke about Romania's accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which he presented as an example of collaboration between parties and institutions around a common goal.
“In the last four years, political parties, institutions from central and local administration have worked together for this common goal, Romania's accession to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the most important project after joining NATO and the European Union.
And today Romania is practically the first of the 8 candidate countries to have completed the technical evaluations of the accession process to this organization, which is the Club of Developed Democracies of the World. This was possible because, at an important moment, people with opinions, people with different political affiliations managed to go beyond their differences and look towards something greater, towards Romania's interest.
There is a saying that in the world there are too many people building walls and too few building bridges. And this is one of the moments when Romania needs bridges. Let's put for a while what unites us ahead of the things that set us apart,” emphasized the designated Prime Minister.
Five months without a fully empowered government
Monday marks exactly five months since the dismissal of the Bolojan Government on May 5, through the censure motion initiated by PSD, AUR, and PACE - First Romania.
Since then, three appointments made by Nicușor Dan have resulted in failure to install a new executive:
- Eugen Tomac resigned on June 14, at the end of the ten-day term, without reaching the investiture vote. Nicușor Dan then appointed Adrian Veștea.
- Adrian Veștea obtained 189 votes "for," insufficient for investiture.
- Siegfried Mureșan received 182 votes "for" on Wednesday, September 30, 51 fewer than the 233 required.
After the last vote, Nicușor Dan requested compromises from the parties: "Politics is about consensus, and majority is about consensus".
I.O.