Snezhana Ivanova
Vladimir Mitev is the editor of the Romanian section of Radio Bulgaria and the founder of the Bulgarian-Romanian blog The Bridge of Friendship. On May 25, 2023, the host of the “12+3” programme of the Bulgarian National Radio “Horizon” Snezhana Ivanova interviewed him about the Romanian rotational government model. Vladimir Mitev explained how this formula was arrived at, what contradictions arise in it, what are the difficulties to carry out the rotation of the prime minister at the moment and other things.
In the end, the rotation in the Romanian government was postponed so that the crisis with the Romanian teachers’ strike could be resolved first. Their protest has the support of many Romanians, but the government says it has no money to raise their low salaries.
Snezhana Ivanova: Now we go to Romania. There, there is a rotational agreement for the government, and even in the coming days, the rotation must be carried out. Vladimir Mitev, a journalist from Radio Bulgaria, will tell us about the situation there. We are joining him now from Bucharest. Hello!
Vladimir Mitev: Hello!
What led to the rotating government in Romania?
It came about after a political crisis that arose in the autumn of 2021. Until then, the Save Romania Plus Union, the National Liberal Party and the Party of Ethnic Hungarians ruled. And between the two larger parties in this coalition, the Save Romania Plus Union and the National Liberal Party, there were contradictions related to control over different resources that was not agreed upon, and eventually a formula was arrived at, in which the two old parties – this division is already there in this country between a lot of parties from the transition – more clientelist in their nature, and a new type of parties more connected to the corporations, so the two old parties – the National Liberal and the Social Democratic parties came to this agreement, because in my opinion, again, access to resources was the most important thing. There are businesses that depend on European funds, and in Romania there are some ministries with a lot of resources, such as the transport ministry or the regional development ministry and so on. The state cannot function without there being agreement on who is managing these resources and without their resources moving to whom they should.
But with this rotational governance that they have come to, how were the ministers chosen? How are decisions made in this governing coalition?
Negotiations are going on and I think things are rather decided without any strategically laid out rules, rather decisions are made ad hoc. I can give the example that various contradictions arise in this alliance. In the Cioca government, which is currently in power, there is again an alliance of three parties, the National Liberal Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Hungarian Party (UDMR). It is noticeable that there seems to be an attempt over time to limit the influence of the UDMR, which is probably also linked to some suspicions that it is too linked to Viktor Orbán and so on. On the other hand, there is also a contradiction within the parties themselves, and perhaps this would be useful to compare with the situation in our country, because in such alliances there are always forces within the respective party that are more inclined to support the union government and the government together with the other party, but there are also forces that are against this. And in fact we have seen how over time the Social Democratic Party has established itself and has about 40% of public support at the moment, while the National Liberal Party has collapsed and it is even very likely that it will be a third political force. We can see how the opposition within this party has grown this spring, which has been saying that this alliance with the Social Democratic Party is not bringing the necessary benefits and is rather bringing some damage to the party. So it is a decision that is taken at a given moment, but we see that time is running out. As the international situation can change, so it can change within the parties themselves and these fights for resources continue. And we can see that even now, when we are already talking about the rotation that will take place. In fact, it is still not entirely clear how the positions in government will be divided and whether, for example, the Hungarian party will be taken out of the formula once the rotation has taken place.
And how will the procedure itself work in Romania? I realise that the legislation, the Constitution, is probably different here and there. Will there be new ministers?
Prime Minister Ciuca has announced that he intends to resign on Friday. President Klaus Iohannis has said that the new government will probably be formed by 30 May and the interior minister said that the new government will probably be ready by the first of June. The previous government will resign and the new government will be formed for a period of time. At least, that is what the ruling National Liberal Party is hoping for-for the new government to be formed quickly. But it has to be said that there are various crises in Romania at the moment, and one of them is related to the teachers’ strike. The Social Democratic Party has made it clear that it wants to postpone this rotation so that the crisis can be resolved. And, in fact, in recent days, we have had statements by Iohannis from the National Liberal Party, and Nicolae Ciuca, who is the Prime Minister from the same party, but from the Social Democratic Party, seems rather silent. The situation is changing dynamically. But if I have to say in one word, a new government will simply be voted in. It is likely that some ministers will remain in government, but others will be replaced and even portfolios will be changed. It is possible that one party will lose a ministry but gain another.
Well, how do the people see this rotation?
My feeling is that it is viewed with skepticism. In the sense that, as in Bulgaria, there is fatigue with politics and with the constant high-level agreements. And in fact we can see that in Romania the influence of the sovereignist tendency is growing. This is a term that Bulgaria uses less. Here, the term is probably nationalism. Sovereignism is the trend that is more populist and to some extent rejects the influence of Western Europe, of LGBT ideology and so on. This more conservative trend is growing and we are seeing it not only in the face of the AUR party, which is currently, according to some studies, even the second most influential party with 20% of public support. But this trend is also seeping into the current parties in the old parties that govern. And the feeling is that perhaps in Romania, as elsewhere, there is a periodic disillusionment with political elites and even with pro-European elites. And we have to see where all this will lead.
Thank you. We must stop here, because the Horizon news briefs are coming up next. Vladimir Mitev connected live from Bucharest.
Photo: The logo of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians – the leading political representative of the sovereignist tendency in Romania (source: Wikipedia Commons)
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