Romania set for third premier in seven months

BUCHAREST: Romania’s ruling Social Democrats on Tuesday put forward European Parliament lawmaker Viorica Dancila to become prime minister, after power struggles within the party forced out the second premier in seven months.

"Mrs. Dancila has been an MEP since 2009, she is respected in Brussels, she doesn’t seek conflict, is communicative and has good relations with the (European) Commission," PSD leader Liviu Dragnea said after a party meeting in Bucharest.

Dragnea said the choice is a "clear signal to Brussels, because we want to improve relations between the government and the Commission" following recent tensions over legislation seen by the EU as potentially weakening the battle against corruption.

Assuming Dancila, 54, is approved by President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday, she will also become the first woman to head the government of the European Union’s second-poorest country after Bulgaria.

Mihai Tudose, 50, announced his resignation as prime minister late Monday after senior members of the PSD voted to withdraw their support. Tudose was the second PSD-appointed premier to go after his predecessor Sorin Grindeanu’s government was torpedoed by the party following a no-confidence motion last June.

Both appeared to have fallen out with Dragnea, 55, who is himself barred from public office because of an electoral fraud conviction, but who still calls the shots as head of the party. Dragnea said Monday he had "made two bad choices" for prime minister, adding that he would not make the same "mistake".

In a recent television interview, Tudose had slammed Dragnea for taking key decisions without consulting other senior party members. Things took a turn for the worst last week when Tudose demanded the resignation of Interior Minister Carmen Dan, a Dragnea ally, after a paedophilia scandal involving Romania’s police force.

On Tuesday the centre-right Iohannis, a fierce critic of the PSD, formally accepted Tudose’s resignation and put forward Mihai Fifor, defence minister, as interim prime minister. The PSD returned to power in December 2016 after a thumping election victory on promises of boosting wages and pensions and slashing taxes, but it almost immediately hit problems.

In February 2017, the government scrapped proposed changes to anti-corruption laws that would have let politicians off the hook after the biggest protests since the ouster of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. Dancila, the new prime minister designate, had staunchly defended the legislation.