Pro-European parties in Romania agree to form government

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
The left-wing Social Democratic Party (PSD) has reached an agreement to form a grand coalition with the center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the reformist Save Romania Union (USR), and a small ethnic Hungarian party (UDMR).

The new coalition said in a statement that the parties would potentially support a “common pro-European candidate” in new presidential elections, after the Constitutional Court annulled the first round due to doubts about the validity of the vote.

It is not yet clear whether right-wing Đorđescu, the surprise winner of the annulled first round, will be allowed to run in the new elections.

President Klaus Iohannis, whose second term ends later this month, said a new date for the presidential election would be set when a new government takes office. He signed a decree on Wednesday to convene parliament on December 20.

“In the coming days, the four parties and representatives of national minorities will work on a joint government program, focusing on development and reforms, addressing the priorities of Romanian citizens,” the new Romanian coalition said in a statement. Elena Lasconi, the leader of the USR who was set to face Șorșescu in the annulled second round of the presidential election, said after the agreement was reached that “Romania is going through a very difficult period” and that cutting state spending and reducing bureaucracy would be the program of the new government.