November 16 (SeeNews) - Romania’s Prime Minister-designate Liviu Negoita on Wednesday said he gave up his nomination in order to allow political parties to continue talks on forming a majority government after the re-election of Traian Basescu as president.
Romania needs to form a new government fast and restart key reforms of the economy and the justice system in order to win back the trust of international lenders, a key condition for the release of the next installments of a 20-billion euro bailout package led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
On Monday Romania’s top court declared incumbent Basescu winner in the run-off presidential elections held on December 6, rejecting demands of opposition Social Democrats to cancel the results of the vote due to alleged fraud.
"I gave up my mandate yesterday. […] I consider that we are in a different political reality after the presidential elections, I think it is normal the consultations [on a new cabinet] to take place without any obstacle from my side," Negoita told reporters.
He also said he expects Basescu's next nomination for premier-designate will be able to form a government and to move it through parliament very soon.
Basescu nominated Negoita, the mayor of one of the Bucharest districts, as prime minister-designate on November 6, two days after parliament rejected his previous nomination Lucian Croitoru, an advisor to the central bank governor. The parliament, in which opposition parties hold the majority, has delayed voting on the ministerial team proposed by Negoita until after the presidential elections.
Romania has been governed by an interim cabinet since October after a Basescu-backed cabinet fell in a no-confidence vote. The ruling party, PD-L, is now holding talks with other political parties represented in parliament in order to gain enough support for the next cabinet.