Romania. Marcel Ciolacu's government approved by parliament

On Monday evening, 240 deputies in the 329-seat lower house of parliament voted to appoint Ciolacu's new cabinet. 143 MPs were against. – I would like to thank my colleagues who voted for me and those who did not vote for me – said the Prime Minister after the results were announced Romaniaquoted by local public television.

The Social Democratic Party is currently forming a governing coalition with the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the center-right Democratic Union Węgrów in Romania (UDMR). The new government is also supported by MPs representing national minorities. Romania's new cabinet consists of 16 ministries. It also includes three deputy ministers, one from each coalition grouping. PSD politicians took over eight ministries, PNL activists – six, and two ministries were taken over by UDMR representatives.

Analyst of the Institute of New Europe, Jakub Bielamowicz, explained that PSD represents a post-communist environment, similar to the Polish Democratic Left Alliance until 2005. – In Poland, this camp has decomposed, and in Romania, since the overthrow of Nicolae Ceausescu, it has been co-ruling the country in various configurations and is the hardest concrete of the political mainstream – he said.

According to the analyst, it is the public opposition to these “old arrangements” and the systemic corruption associated with them that contribute to the growth of anti-establishment forces in Romania.

According to Bielamowicz, the appointment of another Ciolac government, consisting of the same mainstream parties, disregards the desire for change present in Romanian society, which may further fuel opposition before the new presidential elections. – This decision sends a signal that representatives of the parties currently ruling in Romania are defending themselves against the loss of power and influence, which paves the way for even greater mobilization of anti-system voters – the analyst emphasized.

In the short term, however, this may help maintain the current arrangements, Bielamowicz believes. – Perhaps in order to stay in government, they are ready to sacrifice the office of president and give it to radicals. Or they hope that the outrage will subside after the holidays and maybe they will be able to push through their candidate, the expert supposes.

Bielamowicz noted that the right-wing opposition electorate – constituting about 30 percent of society – “is not very involved in politics”, but is influenced by current problems. – First, the far right gained popularity based on dissatisfaction with the government's pandemic policy, and today it is gathering voters who are dissatisfied with inflationthe highest in the European Union – he noted.

He also emphasized that this electorate is not particularly pro-Russian. – It rather captures certain narratives that the Kremlin is currently promoting. They think: “Romania should not get involved, let's leave these global conflicts. (…). Let's live our lives, we are interested in our country – explained the analyst.

One of the tasks of the new government will be to set a date for the presidential elections after the Constitutional Court withdrew its original decision on December 6 and invalidated the results of the November 24 vote. Unexpectedly, the first round of elections was won by a little-known, anti-system candidate, Calin Georgescu.

The decision to invalidate the results of the first round of voting was based on documents showing that Georgescu's campaign was the result of manipulation that may have been organized or supported from outside the country. Later, some Romanian media reported, citing the local tax administration, that the campaign was financed, among others, by the National Liberal Party.

The decision of the Constitutional Court deepened the political crisis in Romania, a European Commission initiated an investigation into possible interference of the TikTok platform in the electoral process. New presidential elections in Romania may be held in March 2025 at the earliest.