Romania: President nominates diplomat for PM
After the collapse of the government of Ilie Bolojan in May this year, President Nicușor Dan is now making a fourth attempt to form a new government. He has nominated the diplomat Luca Niculescu, who has been coordinating Romania's accession process to the OECD, as a candidate for the post of PM. Opinions in the national media are divided as to Nicolescu's chances of success.
Solutions needed, not sacrificial heros
Libertatea doubts that Niculescu will get very far, because he is dependent on votes of the largest party:
“To be appointed, a Niculescu government would need the backing of the [social democratic] PSD politicians. In return, the PSD will demand key ministries from which funds can be siphoned off, because there is already widespread hunger in the countryside that must be alleviated and the local mafias are running out of patience. … This is a game played by politicians devoid of morals, in which figures such as Luca Niculescu have everything to lose and nothing to gain – just like Romanian society, which wants real solutions, not stopgap measures, and not sacrificial heroes.”
A good PM is like a good baker
Adevărul draws an analogy between the prime minister's tasks and those of a famous Romanian bakery chain which is also called Luca:
“A new prime minister without a political team of his own will soon have to do what a baker does every morning: get the equipment up and running at 6 am in order to get the freshly baked products on the shelves. In concrete terms this means: getting the 2027 budget passed in good time, seeing to it that EU funds are spent without delay, and having an administration that doesn't grind to a halt every time a new government takes over. The pretzel chain's success is not the result of revolutionary recipes, but of consistency: the same product at the same time at a predictable price. This is precisely what Romania needs: predictability, not miracles.”