Romanian president names incumbent PM for new pro-European government

Romania’s president on Monday nominated incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to lead a new pro-European coalition government following a top court’s annulment of a presidential election.

After deliberations with Romania’s political parties, President Klaus Iohannis nominated Ciolacu of the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD) to try to form a government, in hopes of ending a protracted political crisis in the European Union country.

Ciolacu, whose party topped the polls in a 1 December parliamentary election, has served as prime minister since June last year.

It is widely seen as a tactical push to shut out far-right nationalists who made significant gains in parliament, revealing widespread anti-establishment sentiment.

“It will not be an easy mandate for the future government,” Ciolacu said in a statement Monday. “We are aware that we are in the midst of a deep political crisis. It is also a crisis of trust, and this coalition aims to regain the trust of citizens, the trust of the people.”

The president’s nomination will need to be approved by the parliament.

The parliamentary election followed a presidential vote in which the far-right ultranationalist outsider Calin Georgescu won the first round, and Ciolacu came third. Georgescu’s surprise success plunged Romania into turmoil as allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged, fuelled by allegations of an engineered campaign on TikTok.

Days before the 8 December presidential runoff, the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the presidential race.

The new coalition is expected to comprise the PSD, the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR, and national minorities.

The three parties have also agreed on a common pro-European candidate to enter the rerun of the presidential election, the date of which is yet to be announced.

“Each of the signatories of this political agreement has understood the signal sent by Romanians during the general elections,” Ciolacu said.

In 2021, the PSD and the PNL also formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the government last year after a power-sharing dispute.