Romania’s president on Friday formally signed off on the dismissal of the justice minister who was sacked over disagreements on justice reform and a huge local development scheme.
The firing of Stelian Ion puts pressure on the already fragile coalition government. If the junior Save Romanian Union to which Mr Ion belongs quits the government, it would lose its slim majority in parliament.
It could be forced out by a no-confidence vote. It may also make concessions to the Social Democratic Party, which has more seats than any other group.
Centrist Prime Minister Florin Citu fired Mr Ion late Wednesday and accused his party of undermining a 10 billion-euro local development infrastructure plan.
He also accused him of failing to disband a controversial unit tasked with investigating magistrates for wrongdoing.
But the main disagreement appears to have been over the development infrastructure financing scheme which is aimed at modernizing antiquated rural infrastructure.
The justice minister needed to sign off on the plan. His party said the plan was flawed and would benefit Mr. Citu’s Liberal Party which have more mayors.
Romania has been battling a ballooning budget deficit caused by years of political instability and high spending by the previous Social Democrat governments.
„I will not accept ministers in the Romanian government who oppose the modernization of Romania,” the prime minister said late Wednesday.
President Klaus Iohannis signed off on the dismissal on Thursday.
Mr Ion has claimed the real reason he was dismissed was connected to the appointment of senior prosecutors.
“That’s what’s really at stake,” he said on Facebook.
