Designated Prime Minister Siegfried Mureșan submitted the government program and the list of proposed ministers from PNL, USR, and UDMR to Parliament on Saturday. The document includes 372 measures, and now the process of investing the Cabinet begins.
Mureșan stated that the first measures will focus on state reform. He promised the modernization of ANAF and a single desk for citizens. Regarding taxes, he stated that the future government will not increase VAT and would like to return to the 19% rate when the budget situation allows. He also announced the creation of a „Future Account” for children.
PNL, USR, and UDMR approved the program and the list of ministers on Friday, but the three parties do not have enough votes in Parliament on their own. Candidate hearings and the vote of confidence are expected at the beginning of next week. Until then, it remains to be seen if Mureșan will receive support from outside the three formations.
Spotmedia.ro has broadcast the main statements of today live from Parliament:
Siegfried Mureșan, about the government program:
- This morning, at the Romanian Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, according to Article 103 of the Romanian Constitution, as a candidate for the position of Prime Minister, the government program I propose and the complete list of ministers were submitted. In just 5 days, together with colleagues, experts, and specialists from the 3 parties supporting this government, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, and the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, we managed to develop a very concrete, detailed, extensive program with 372 specific measures that the government will take for Romania, and we managed to submit a list of capable, responsible, serious ministers to implement the government program.
- As I mentioned, throughout the entire week, first the government program, and then we will decide on the ministers for implementing this government program. Yesterday, we finalized the detailed government program, and yesterday, the statutory bodies of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania, the National Liberal Party, and the Save Romania Union in this order, in the afternoon of yesterday, validated the government program and the list of ministers.
- The government program starts from the vision that we, as three reformist parties, have for Romania, a Romania where the state serves the citizen. Through this government program, we propose a modern Romania, a prosperous Romania, a fair Romania, and a secure Romania. A modern Romania with less bureaucracy and services that work for people.
- A prosperous Romania where people can live better, where they don't struggle from month to month just to pay their expenses. A fair Romania where the law is the law, and if you know that you respect the law, you have nothing to fear, and those who do not respect the law will be held accountable quickly, according to the laws in force.
- A secure Romania where we protect citizens alongside our partners from NATO and the European Union.
- We will build on the good things done by the Romanian government in the past year. The three parties have responsibly assumed the governance of Romania in the recent period, including in the form of an interim cabinet. We will build on the very good things done during this period and aim to enter a new stage of economic growth and development.
- For real development, it must start with the state. That is why the first part of the government program, the first things we will do for Romania, are state reform because we want a modern Romania.
- We will reform and modernize state-owned companies. State-owned companies must provide modern services for people, not be a source of public money waste. They need to be modernized, reformed, and have efficient management.
- They will be listed on the stock exchange or privatized, in any case, managed better. We will invest, the efficient management we will install will absorb European funds, make investments so that these state-owned companies offer the best services for people, and also make a profit for the Romanian state. We will reform and modernize ANAF and, very importantly, we will create a single desk for citizens.
- All services related to population records, passports, licenses, registrations, will all be at a single desk so that people know they don't have to go from one counter to another for the same issues.
- We will not increase VAT, and as soon as we can afford it, we will return the VAT rate to 19%, maintaining the current flat rate.
- We will invest in the future of children and families. For the first time, we are launching a program called the Future Account. In the first year of life, parents will be able to open a savings and investment account in the child's name to create a starting capital for education, training, and later on. We focus on absorbing all European funds.
- In the first weeks of the mandate, the government we will form will conclude negotiations with the European Commission to absorb the last funds that must come from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. With the NRPP well concluded, the government will focus on absorbing European funds available to us until 2027.
- We will accelerate the construction of already started highways.
- For a fair Romania, we have all seen the documentaries, we all know what needs to be done in justice. We will put an end to discretionary delegations and promotions, we will completely guarantee a stable and random allocation of cases.
- For a secure Romania, alongside our partners from NATO and the European Union, we will continue to invest in efficient anti-aircraft, anti-missile, and anti-drone defense.
- And we must tell people the truth, we will have to invest more, faster, and for a longer period of time to be safe, to face the challenges at Romania's borders. To afford to invest in security and defense, we need a strong economy, balanced budgets, and that is why stimulating the private sector, responsibly managing public funds, reducing waste are so important. But, as I said, the change must start with the state, that is why: integrity, transparency, and competence. That is what we expect from all government representatives at the administration level, and that is exactly what we propose through the team of ministers.
ADVERTISING
Siegfried Mureșan, about the proposed ministers:
- Who are the ministers we propose? As we mentioned, the Government will have the same number of ministries as before, we will not split ministries, we will not create additional ministries, and the Government will have only three deputy prime ministers, each with their own portfolio.
- The Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister in the Romanian Government will be Mr. Mircea Abrudean, a prefect, former prefect of Cluj County, including during the pandemic period, when he successfully managed the pandemic period there. He then served as the Secretary-General of the Government, currently the President of the Senate, a politically experienced individual in local and central administration, who will manage the Ministry of Internal Affairs very effectively.
- The Minister of National Defense and Deputy Prime Minister will be Mr. Radu Miruță. Mr. Radu Miruță, as Minister of National Defense so far, has equipped and accelerated the equipping of the Romanian Army through the European defense program SAFE and has already successfully absorbed the pre-financing from the European defense program SAFE. Thanks to his work, Romania has already received over 2.5 billion euros for security and defense from the European Union.
- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development will be Mr. Tánczos Barna. Mr. Tánczos Barna has extensive experience as a cabinet member, having served as Minister of the Environment, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Prime Minister. All these experiences will help him in carrying out his duties as Minister of Agriculture.
- For Justice, we propose an independent person, as we desire a strong and independent judiciary. We have agreed with the three parties that the position of Minister of Justice will be held by Mrs. Andrea Chiș. Mrs. Andrea Chiș has been a judge with over 25 years of experience at the Cluj Court, Cluj Tribunal, and the Court of Appeal. She was a member of the CSM from 2017 to 2023 and has also had an academic career. I am confident that she will successfully carry out this responsibility with transparency, in a spirit of dialogue, and with a clear agenda aimed at strengthening the rule of law in Romania.
- The Minister of Finance is Alexandru Nazare, who along with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan stabilized the country's finances this year. He is a trusted figure for financial partners, investors, and Romania's international partners.
- The Minister of Foreign Affairs will continue to be Mrs. Oana Țoiu. Minister Țoiu successfully managed Romania's accession process to the OECD, which is nearing completion. She opened the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to young diplomats through transparent recruitment and competitions.
- We are pleased to propose Mrs. Oana Gheorghiu as Minister of Health at the Ministry of Health. Mrs. Oana Gheorghiu has built a hospital in Romania, the first pediatric oncology hospital. She has over 10 years of experience in healthcare and will continue to carry out her mandate in the Romanian Government with the same spirit of transparency and efficiency as she did as Deputy Prime Minister.
- The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure will be Mr. Cătălin Drulă, who has already managed this portfolio. He served as Minister of Transport in 2020-2021. He is the minister who initiated the construction of the first highway to the northeastern counties of the country. Under his ministry, the A7 highway was included in the PNRR.
- The Minister of Development, Public Works, and Administration will continue to be Mr. Cseke Attila. He has been managing this portfolio very well for several years. He has overseen major local investments such as the Angel Saligni program and has always placed great importance on the relationship with local authorities, municipalities, and county councils.
- The Minister of Labor, Family, Youth, and Social Solidarity will be Mrs. Raluca Turcan, who led this ministry in 2020-2021. During her mandate, she began the reform of the public pension system, including recalculating pensions based on contributions, and initiated the digitalization of pension houses. Unified salary law will be one of her priorities in her mandate.
- The Minister of Investments and European Projects will continue to be Mr. Dragoș Pâslaru. When he became minister a year ago, he found a delayed PNRR, managed to renegotiate it with the European Commission to save all non-repayable European funds available to Romania, and successfully concluded the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
- The Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism will continue to be Mr. Irineu Darău. Within the PNRR, he has achieved all the targets and milestones under his supervision, and through the work he and his team at the Ministry of Economy have done, he managed to absorb over 900 million euros in European funds from the PNRR for Romania in recent months and also saved the funding for over 3200 companies from the StartUp Nation program.
- The Minister of Environment, Waters, and Forests will be Mrs. Diana Buzoianu. Mrs. Diana Buzoianu has already reformed RomSilva in this first mandate, reduced the number of directorates from 41 to 19, uncovered cases of irregularities worth millions of lei, launched a forest monitoring system, accessed European funds in this area, and strengthened the Environmental Guard.
- The Minister of Energy will be Mr. Sebastian Burduja, who has already held this portfolio from 2023 to 2025. During his tenure, he signed contracts worth over 1 billion euros from the Modernization Fund. These funds and investments initiated are directed towards the construction of new power plants. The objective at the Ministry of Energy is very clear - to reduce energy prices for Romanians.
- The Minister of Culture will be our colleague Koppány Ötvös. He is currently a long-time Secretary of State at the Ministry of Culture, where he is responsible for heritage, being an expert in the field, an archaeologist, museologist, and has direct experience in managing cultural institutions.
- The Minister of Education and Research will be Mr. Mihai Dimian, who before becoming minister was the rector of the University of Suceava and the coordinating vice-rector for research activities, a professor, and researcher in engineering.
- Mureșan: "I will not resign" - Mureșan stated on Saturday morning that he does not intend to resign from the designated prime minister position and will take the proposed Government to a vote in Parliament. "Mr. Grindeanu asks me in vain, every day, to resign. If I have once said that I will not resign, then I will not. I do what I say: we will go to a vote in the Romanian Parliament. I am looking forward to presenting my vision for Romania to the people," Siegfried Mureșan wrote on Facebook.
ADVERTISING
PNL, USR, and UDMR approved the program on Friday and validated their proposals. The proposed Government has 16 ministries and three deputy prime ministers, one from each party.
The team with which Siegfried Mureșan will go before Parliament is composed of:
- Mircea Abrudean (PNL) - Minister of Internal Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister
- Radu Miruță (USR) - Minister of National Defense and Deputy Prime Minister
- Tánczos Barna (UDMR) - Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and Deputy Prime Minister
- Andrea Chiș (independent) - Minister of Justice
- Alexandru Nazare (PNL) - Minister of Finance
- Oana Țoiu (USR) - Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Oana Gheorghiu (PNL) - Minister of Health
- Cătălin Drulă (USR) - Minister of Transport and Infrastructure
- Cseke Attila (UDMR) - Minister of Development, Public Works, and Administration
- Raluca Turcan (PNL) - Minister of Labor, Family, Youth, and Social Solidarity
- Dragoș Pîslaru (PNL) - Minister of Investments and European Projects
- Irineu Darău (USR) - Minister of Economy, Digitalization, Entrepreneurship, and Tourism
- Diana Buzoianu (USR) - Minister of Environment, Waters, and Forests
- Sebastian Burduja (PNL) - Minister of Energy
- Bulcsú Koppány Ötvös (UDMR) - Minister of Culture
- Mihai Dimian (PNL) - Minister of Education and Research
Additionally, the General Secretary of the Government, with ministerial rank, is proposed to be Dan Reșitnec (USR).
However, the submission of documents does not guarantee that the future government has a majority. PNL, USR, and UDMR do not have enough votes on their own, and Mureșan will need support from outside the three parties for the Executive to pass through Parliament.
ADVERTISING
This is the third attempt to appoint a government after the dismissal of the Bolojan Cabinet in May. Eugen Tomac resigned before the vote, and the Cabinet proposed by Adrian Veștea did not gain the confidence of Parliament.
The English translation of this article was generated with the assistance of AI technology.