Romania's shaky coalition government collapses
Romania's center-left coalition government has collapsed after a group of Social Democrat ministers resigned in protest over the firing of the country's interior minister.
After months of an uneasy cohabitation with its centrist Liberal Democrat (PDL) partners, left-leaning Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader Mircea Geoana said on Thursday that nine ministers from his party had quit the government "in solidarity" with Interior Minister, Dan Nica. The move ends the shaky nine-month tenure of a coalition consumed by bickering and corruption allegations just before presidential elections scheduled for November 22. Nica was fired by Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday over comments he made about potential fraud in the run-up to the November poll. Nica's comments were widely interpreted as an accusation that Boc's Liberal Democrats might try to cheat to get President Traian Basescu re-elected. As an interim solution, Nica was replaced by Development Minister Vasile Blaga, who is the PDL campaign chief and a close ally of Basescu. Geoana has blamed the president for the crisis, saying "nothing was sacred" to him to ensure he wins another term in office. Coalition had a whole laundry list of problems Divisions between the PDL and PSD have festered since the beginning of the year after the Social Democrats accused President Basescu of interfering in the government decision-making process. Also in January, the PSD's interior minister, Gabriel Oprea, resigned in a dispute over the appointment of an intelligence officer considered too close to the coalition partners. In February, the newly appointed Liviu Dragnea quit the same post, citing insufficient funds allocated to his ministry. In September, Prime Minister Boc threatened to fire the leftist education minister unless she withdrew a controversial decision to allow political appointments in the education sector. Boc said the decision contradicted principles of newly adopted IMF-mandated legislation to reform the country's ailing education system. At the same time, the Social Democrats slammed massive job cuts planned by the government as part of a 20-billion-euro ($29 billion) IMF aid package, saying it would oppose the implementation of such a move. PSD support for parliamentary inquiries investigating PDL ministers Monica Iacob-Ridzi for fraud and Elena Udrea for abuse of power prompted the centrists to ask the PSD whether they wanted to be in government or in the opposition. As it stands now, with the presidential election in November, voters will have the option of sending a signal on which party should do what. gb/dpa/AFP/Reuters/AP Editor: Michael Lawton
Romania
Romania Romania_national_football_team Romania_national_rugby_union_team Kingdom_of_Romania Socialist_Republic_of_Romania Romanian_Football_Federation ISU_Junior_Grand_Prix_in_Romania Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_Romania Romania_women's_national_football_team Romania_national_under-21_football_team Romania_women's_national_basketball_team Romania_Fed_Cup_team United_Principalities Romania_Davis_Cup_team Romania_men's_national_handball_team Football_in_Romania
Romania
Romania Romania_national_football_team Romania_national_rugby_union_team Kingdom_of_Romania Socialist_Republic_of_Romania Romanian_Football_Federation ISU_Junior_Grand_Prix_in_Romania Recognition_of_same-sex_unions_in_Romania Romania_women's_national_football_team Romania_national_under-21_football_team Romania_women's_national_basketball_team Romania_Fed_Cup_team United_Principalities Romania_Davis_Cup_team Romania_men's_national_handball_team Football_in_Romania
Social Democrat
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Liberal Democrat
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PDL
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Social Democratic Party
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PSD
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leader
Mircea Geoana
Mircea_Geoană
Thursday
Interior Minister
Dan Nica
Dan_Nica
November 22
Nica
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Prime Minister
Emil Boc
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Monday
November
Nica
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Boc
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Liberal Democrats
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President
Traian Basescu
Traian_Băsescu Romanian_presidential_impeachment_referendum,_2007 Romanian_presidential_impeachment_referendum,_2012
Nica
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Development Minister
Vasile Blaga
Vasile_Blaga
PDL
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Basescu
Traian_Băsescu Elena_Băsescu
Geoana
Mircea_Geoană
PDL
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PSD
Social_Democratic_Party_(Portugal) Social_Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_2011) PSD_(rapper) Social_Democratic_Party_(Spain) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_1945–65) Brazilian_Social_Democracy_Party Socialist_Destourian_Party Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party Social_Democratic_Party_of_Madagascar_and_the_Comoros .psd Adobe_Photoshop Power_spectral_density Social_Democratic_Party_(El_Salvador) Social_Democratic_Party_(France)
Social Democrats
Swedish_Social_Democratic_Party Social_Democrats_(Denmark) Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany Social_democracy Social_Democrats_(Slovenia) Czech_Social_Democratic_Party Social_Democrats_(Ireland) Social_Democratic_Party_of_Finland Social_Democrats Social_Democratic_Party_of_Austria Social_Democrats_of_Montenegro Social_Democratic_Party_of_Switzerland Social_Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party_of_Lithuania Romanian_Social_Democratic_Party_(1927–48) Social_Democratic_Party_(UK)
President
Basescu
Traian_Băsescu Elena_Băsescu
January
PSD
Social_Democratic_Party_(Portugal) Social_Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_2011) PSD_(rapper) Social_Democratic_Party_(Spain) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_1945–65) Brazilian_Social_Democracy_Party Socialist_Destourian_Party Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party Social_Democratic_Party_of_Madagascar_and_the_Comoros .psd Adobe_Photoshop Power_spectral_density Social_Democratic_Party_(El_Salvador) Social_Democratic_Party_(France)
interior minister
Gabriel Oprea
Gabriel_Oprea
February
Liviu Dragnea
Liviu_Dragnea
September
Prime Minister
Boc
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Boc
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IMF
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Social Democrats
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20-billion-euro
$29 billion
IMF
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PSD
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PDL
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ministers
Monica Iacob-Ridzi
Monica_Iacob_Ridzi
Elena Udrea
Elena_Udrea
PSD
Social_Democratic_Party_(Portugal) Social_Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_2011) PSD_(rapper) Social_Democratic_Party_(Spain) Social_Democratic_Party_(Brazil,_1945–65) Brazilian_Social_Democracy_Party Socialist_Destourian_Party Democratic_Party_(Romania) Social_Democratic_Party Social_Democratic_Party_of_Madagascar_and_the_Comoros .psd Adobe_Photoshop Power_spectral_density Social_Democratic_Party_(El_Salvador) Social_Democratic_Party_(France)
November
gb/dpa/AFP/Reuters/AP Editor: Michael Lawton
Liberal Democrats
Liberal_Democratic_Party_(Romania)
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Social Democratic Party
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Dan Nica
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Mircea Geoana
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Traian Basescu
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Emil Boc
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Romania
Romania
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leader
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Vasile Blaga
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Gabriel Oprea
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Liviu Dragnea
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IMF
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Elena Udrea
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gb/dpa/AFP/Reuters/AP Editor: Michael Lawton
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