Romania’s president on Monday nominated incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu to lead a new pro-European coalition government more than two weeks after a top court’s annulment of a presidential election threw the country into political chaos.
After talks with Romania’s political parties, President Klaus Iohannis nominated Ciolacu of the center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD) to try to form a government, in hopes of ending an ongoing political crisis.
Ciolacu, whose party topped the polls in a 1 December parliamentary election, but scored far short of a majority, has been premier since June 2023.
The ad-hoc coalition of the Social Democrats, the center-right Liberals and a Hungarian group is widely seen as a tactical push to shut out far-right nationalists who made significant gains in parliament, on a wave of resentment with the political establishment.
“It will not be an easy mandate for the future government,” Ciolacu said in a statement Monday. “We are aware that we are in the midst of a deep political crisis. It is also a crisis of trust… This coalition aims to regain the trust of citizens, the trust of the people.”
Iohannis’ nomination will need to be approved by the parliament but the three parties which will likely be in the coalition together with minority seats have a parliamentary majority so it should not be a problem.
The parliamentary election came a week after a presidential vote in which the radical EU and NATO skeptic Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won the first round, while Ciolacu, who was top of the polls came third.
Georgescu’s improbable success plunged Romania into turmoil as declassified reports of Russian interference and electoral violations were exposed in an complex manipulated campaign on TikTok.
Two days before the Dec. 8 runoff, the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential race, in an unprecedented move.
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