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Economist tapped to form new Romanian government
Oct 15, 2009, 14:34 GMT
Bucharest - Romania's political crisis continued Thursday as its president picked a new candidate to form a government, despite the fact that the opposition is likely to oppose this new head of government.
The most recent phase of Romania's political problems started Tuesday, when a minority government headed by Emil Boc of the centrist PD-L party collapsed Tuesday after it failed a vote of confidence with less than 35 per cent of the vote.
Thursday, President Traian Basescu tapped Lucian Croitoru, a finance and economics expert, to form a new government. Croitoru is not affiliated with any party, but is close to the president.
However, the opposition Socialists (PSD) and Liberals (PNL) are expected to oppose Croitoru's assignment, since they favour their candidate to head the new government, Klaus Johannis, the mayor of Sibiu.
Backing his choice, Basescu said Romania needs a prime minister with 'economic expertise' in these 'crisis times.' It is also important for the new head of government to have good relations with international financial institutions.
Romania is currently the recipient of a 20-billion-euro (29.7- billion-dollar) package of loans from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union to help it through the financial crisis.
But PSD head Mircea Geoana said Basescu intentionally put forward a candidate who cannot win in hopes of delaying the process past November 22, when presidential elections are scheduled.
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