Romanian government fails; opposition premier suggested

Oct 14, 2009, 12:59 GMT

Bucharest - Romania's opposition parties put forward Klaus Johannis late Tuesday as their common candidate for interim premier after Romania's government failed a no-confidence vote.

The no-confidence vote, a first since the fall of communism, came earlier in the day, just two weeks after the breakup of the cabinet.

Support for Johannis, the independent ethnic-German mayor of the city of Sibiu (Hermannstadt), was confirmed by Mircea Geoana, chief of the opposition Social Democrats (PSD.) His name was originally put forward by the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL).

An interim premier would govern until the first round of presidential elections on November 22. The run-off would be December 6.

The agreement on Johannis between the PSD and PNL was supported by the minority party UDMR. But requirements dictate that President Traian Basescu would formally have to put the nomination before Parliament, and it was unclear whether he would do that.

Basescu is close to the middle class PD-L of Emil Boc, the premier who was voted out by Parliament. The PD-L continues to support Boc, and it was possible that Basescu would nominate Boc again.

The no-confidence motion passed 258-176, some 40 days ahead of the country's presidential elections. Basescu must now name someone to try to form a new government.

The no-confidence vote had been filed last week by the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) against Boc's minority government.

Boc's government of PD-L and Social Democrats (PSD), which had taken power at the beginning of the year, disintegrated in September when the PSD pulled out of the cabinet, accusing the Boc government of 'economically and morally destroying' the country.

The PSD accused Boc's side of trying to influence the upcoming presidential elections in favour of the re-election of Basescu.

Johannis has declared his readiness to discuss a possible premiership. The 50-year-old president of the German Forum in Romania (DFDR) is in his third term as mayor of Hermannstadt, where he is very popular. He won the last community elections with nearly 90 per cent of the vote.

The city's population is 2 per cent ethnic German, after a large post-war influx of Romanians and the departure of many Germans since the 1980s.