Upon the CDR's creation, before the elections of 1996, he became the new body's campaign organizer. In December 1996, after the election victory, Opriş was appointed to ministerial office, as Minister-Delegate for Coordinating the General Secretariat of the Government and of the Department for Local Public Administration. He proposed several new laws, including those on ministerial responsibility, the status of civil servants, on property rights, and on local budgets, as well as issuing a 1997 ordinance to amend the Law on Public Administration.