Romanian president Klaus Iohannis said on Friday, January 4, that he would not sign the decrees appointing Lia-Olguta Vasilescu as development minister and Mircea Draghici as transport minister, thus refusing the prime minister’s proposals for the two ministries for the second time, according to Romania-Insider.com.
The leaders of the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) decided in November 2018 that a government reshuffle is needed, and changed some of the key ministers. The president accepted the new minister proposals, except for two of them: that of former labor minister Lia-Olguta Vasilescu as transport minister and Ilan Laufer as regional development minister. He said at that time that the proposals were “unfit”.
PSD came up with new names quickly, proposing Lia-Olguta Vasilescu for the Development Ministry and Mircea Draghici for the Transport Ministry. But Iohannis postponed firstly until after December 1 and then until after the Constitutional Court’s ruling giving an answer to PM Viorica Dancila. The Court ruled in December that the president must issue the decree confirming the two vacancies in the cabinet following the resignation of the development and transport ministers, and thus Iohannis signed on January 3 the two decrees to revoke the two ministers. However, on January 4 came the announcement that he would refuse the PM’s proposals for the two positions.
“My team is currently working on this analysis but by the middle of next week I will publicly present the reasons for refusing the prime minister’s proposals,” Iohannis told the press on Friday, January 4.
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