Cîțu Cabinet

The Cîțu Cabinet is the current government of Romania, which is led by Florin Cîțu.

Cîțu Cabinet
131st Cabinet of Romania
Date formed	23 December 2020
People and organisations
Head of state	Klaus Iohannis
Head of government	Florin-Vasile Cîțu
Deputy head of government	Ilie Dan Barna Hunor Kelemen
No. of ministers	18
Member parties	PNL USR-PLUS[note 1] UDMR
Status in legislature	Coalition
History
Election(s)	2020
Legislature term(s)	2020–2024
Predecessor	Orban II

Formation of the government and negotiations

Procedure

The prime minister candidate, who is designated by the president,[2] has to request the investiture vote/vote of confidence from the legislature within 10 days from being appointed.[3]

Political negotiations

On the 7th of December 2020, the leader of the UDMR senators of the 2016–2020 Romanian Parliament, Attila Cseke said that Hunor Kelemen, the president of the party, had talked to Klaus Iohannis and that they were awaiting for the finalisation of the count of the election votes.[4]

On the 9th of December 2020, EPP MEP from the PNL, Rareș Bogdan, was confident the government would be approved by the 23rd of December, and that the cabinet would have between 16 and 18 ministries.[5]

The National Liberal Party, USR-PLUS and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania had met at Vila Lac on the 12th of December 2020 to negotiate on making up the coalition government proposition and on several key aspects: the collaboration in the parliament, the government positions and the governance programme. According to political sources, the liberals wanted Ludovic Orban to preside over the Chamber of Deputies, while USR-PLUS wanted Dan Barna to become its president. If Barna couldn't preside, USR-PLUS wanted to secure a vice premier position. The same party didn't rule out its desire to have Radu Mihail, the leader of the USR senators from the 2016–2020 legislature, become president of the Senate. The UDMR were not prepared, nor willing to take any key function within the elected parliament.[6]

Consultations with the president

On the 6th of December 2020, elections for a new Romanian Parliament took place. On the 10th of December 2020, the President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, invited the parties that got into the newly elected Parliament: PSD, PNL, USR-PLUS, AUR and UDMR; and the representatives of the national minorities for consultations on the 14th of December.[7]

Vote in the parliament

After the president proposed Florin Cîțu to be prime minister on the 22nd of December,[8][9] the proposed government was brought to the parliament for the voting procedure on the 23rd of December. All minister propositions have passed the hearings in the parliamentary commissions on the same day.[10] It was approved by the parliament, with 260 votes in favour and 183 votes against giving the Cîțu Cabinet confidence, more than the minimum 228 necessary votes.[11] The appointed government will take the oath into office at 20:00 EET, at Cotroceni Palace.[12]

Composition

Position	Minister	Party		Date sworn in	Left office
Prime Minister (Romanian: prim-ministru)	Florin Cîțu		PNL	23 December 2020
Vice Prime Minister (Romanian: viceprim-ministru)	Dan Barna		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
	Hunor Kelemen		UDMR	23 December 2020
Minister of Education (Romanian: Ministrul Educației)	Sorin Cîmpeanu		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Energy (Romanian: Ministrul Energiei)	Virgil-Daniel Popescu		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism (Romanian: Ministrul Economiei, Antreprenoriatului și Turismului)	Claudiu Năsui		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
Minister of Foreign Affairs (Romanian: Ministrul Afacerilor Externe)	Bogdan Aurescu		Independent	23 December 2020
Minister of National Defence (Romanian: Ministrul Apărării Naționale)	Nicolae Ciucă		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Labour and Social Protection (Romanian: Ministrul Muncii și Protecției Sociale)	Raluca Turcan		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister for Development, Public Works and Administration (Romanian: Ministrul Dezvoltării, Lucrărilor Publice și Administrației)	Attila Cseke		UDMR	23 December 2020
Minister of Environment, Water and Forests (Romanian: Ministrul Mediului, Apelor și Pădurilor)	Barna Tánczos		UDMR	23 December 2020
Minister for Transport and Infrastructure (Romanian: Ministrul Transporturilor și Infrastructurii)	Cătălin Drulă		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
Minister of Finance (Romanian: Ministrul Finanțelor)	Alexandru Nazare		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Justice (Romanian: Ministrul Justiției)	Stelian Ion		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development (Romanian: Ministrul Agriculturii și Dezvoltării Rurale)	Nechita-Adrian Oros		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Health (Romanian: Ministrul Sănătății)	Vlad Voiculescu		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
Minister of Internal Affairs (Romanian: Ministrul Afacerilor Interne)	Lucian Bode		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister of Investments and European Projects (Romanian: Ministrul Investițiilor și Proiectelor Europene)	Cristian Ghinea		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020
Minister of Culture (Romanian: Ministrul Culturii)	Bogdan Gheorghiu		PNL	23 December 2020
Minister for Youth and Sport (Romanian: Ministrul Tineretului și Sportului)	Eduard Novak		UDMR	23 December 2020
Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization (Romanian: Ministrul Cercetării, Inovării și Digitalizării)	Ciprian Teleman		USR-PLUS	23 December 2020

Notes

1. The merger between USR and PLUS was approved by 84.65% of those who voted at a joint congress held by the two parties on the 15th of August 2020.[1] They ran for parliament as an alliance.

References

1. "Fuziunea USR și PLUS, aprobată cu votul a peste 84% dintre membrii forurilor de conducere celor două formațiuni" [USR and PLUS merger, approved by the vote of over 84% of the two parties' board members]. News.ro (in Romanian). 15 August 2020. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
2. Article 103, Section 1 of the Constitution of Romania (2003)
3. Article 103, Section 2 of the Constitution of Romania (2003)
4. Dumitru, Adrian, ed. (7 December 2020). "Președintele Klaus Iohannis și Hunor Kelemen au discutat despre o viitoare coaliție de guvernare" [President Klaus Iohannis and Hunor Kelemen had discussed about a future governing coalition]. Digi24 (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
5. "Rareș Bogdan a explicat cum s-ar putea împărți ministerele între PNL, USR-PLUS și UDMR / Despre propunerea de premier a liberalilor: Avem 3 nume, oameni extrem de buni în domeniile lor (VIDEO)". B1 TV (in Romanian). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
6. "UPDATE- Prima zi de negocieri între PNL, USR-PLUS și UDMR s-a finalizat/ Liderii celor trei formațiuni anunță că doresc "o formulă de guvernare stabilă României, care să asigure cele mai bune soluții pentru ieșirea din criză"". News.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 20 December 2020.
7. Petrescu, Ana (10 December 2020). "Klaus Iohannis invită partidele la consultări pe 14 decembrie. Primul partid la discuțiile cu președintele este PSD" [Klaus Iohannis invites the parties for consultations on the 14th of December. The first party at the discussions with the president is PSD]. News.ro (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
8. "DECRET nr. 1.125 din 22 decembrie 2020" [DECREE No. 1,125 of 22 December 202]. Decree No. 1,125 of 22 December 2020 (in Romanian). President of Romania.
9. Vulcan, Dora (22 December 2020). "Klaus Iohannis: Am decis să-l desemnez pe Florin Cîțu pentru funcția de prim-ministru" [Klaus Iohannis: I've decided to designate Florin Cîțu for the prime-minister function]. Radio Free Europe Romania (in Romanian). Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
10. "VIDEO Miniștrii Guvernului Cîțu, avizați pe repede înainte / Document programul de guvernare". HotNews.ro (in Romanian). 23 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
11. "BREAKING Guvernul PNL - USR-PLUS - UDMR a trecut de votul Parlamentului". HotNews.ro (in Romanian). 23 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
12. "Guvernul Cîțu depune jurământul la Cotroceni la ora 20.00" [The Cîțu Government will take the oath at Cotroceni at 20.00]. G4Media.ro (in Romanian). 23 December 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.