Ethnic German politician nominated as Romanian PM

ROMANIA’S PRESIDENT and party leaders failed to resolve the country’s political crisis yesterday, disagreeing on how to replace a government that was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

Opposition parties nominated the mayor of the Transylvanian city of Sibiu to be the new prime minister at the head of an interim cabinet of non-aligned technocrats, but President Traian Basescu insisted the recession-hit country needed a national unity government of politicians.

“I don’t believe in a technocrat government. Restoring confidence in Romania can be done solely through a political government,” Mr Basescu said before talks with the leaders of parties who ousted the cabinet of his ally, Liberal Democrat Emil Boc, in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday.

“I would suggest looking at the possibility of a national unity government,” he said, backing a broad cabinet that would bring together the Liberal Democrats and their political foes.

That proposal was immediately opposed by the Social Democrats (PSD), who left the ruling coalition earlier this month after Mr Boc sacked one of their ministers for accusing the Liberal Democrats of planning to rig November’s presidential election in favour of Mr Basescu.

“A unity government implies complicated negotiations that would last until after the presidential election,” said PSD leader Mircea Geoana, adding that Romania needed a new government as soon as possible to deal with the country’s economic woes.

The economic crisis has plunged Romania from boom into deep recession, forcing it to go to the International Monetary Fund for a €20 billion loan.

As part of the deal, Mr Boc’s government agreed to introduce painful cutbacks to help stabilise the economy.

But the current political upheaval, and the campaign for votes in next month’s ballot, could jeopardise those reforms and payment of the next tranche of the loan.

Mr Johannis is extremely popular in his home region and well regarded around the country for his effective running of Sibiu, which was a European Capital of Culture in 2007.

As a member of a party representing Romania’s small ethnic German community, he is also seen as outside the squabbling between major parties that often paralyses Romanian politics.

Mr Basescu said he might accept Mr Johannis as prime minister, but only at the head of a political government.