Monday evening, Ludovic Orban resigned as the Prime Minister of Romania following the results of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in the country. His party, the National Liberal party (PNL), got 25.5 percent of the vote, while the Social Democrats (PSD) received 29.8 percent. Following this, President Klaus Iohannis appointed the Minister of National Defense, Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, to be the interim prime minister. (hotnews)
Since Tuesday morning, when Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă took over his mandate, Romania has had an interim government. But what are the responsibilities of an interim government exactly?
According to Article 110 of the Romanian Constitution, the interim government can only issue individual or normative acts that are necessary for the administration of public affairs but cannot promote any new policies until the members of the new government take their oath. The interim government may not issue ordinances or emergency ordinances either and may not initiate bills.
Government investiture procedure
So, what comes next? According to Article 103 of the Constitution, the Romanian President has the right to nominate a candidate for the position of Prime Minister after consulting the party with an absolute majority in the Parliament. If there is no such majority, he must consult with the representatives of all parliamentary parties; in this case, the latter will happen.
Then, within 10 days, the candidate for the position must request a confidence vote in parliament on the government program and the entire list of the government. Both the program and the list of the government will be discussed in the joint session of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate and then has to be approved by a majority vote. Finally, the new prime minister, the ministers and the other members of the government will take their oath individually before the president of Romania.
According to Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă, besides the duties of the interim prime minister, he will also continue to perform the duties of the minister of national defense during this transitional period.
Title image: The new interim prime minister of Romania: Nicolae-Ionel Ciucă. (Archive photo: INQUAM PHOTOS / GEORGE CĂLIN)
