Romanian Ruling Party to Replace Ousted Cabinet

Romania's ruling Social Democratic Party is set to announce a new government on Wednesday after a two-week-long political crisis that raised questions over stability and threatened the economy.  

After 15-minute consultations on Monday afternoon with the Social Democrats and their allies in the Alliance of the Liberals and Democrats, ALDE, President Klaus Iohannis announced that he accepted the proposal of the ruling coalition and nominated interim Economy Minister Mihai Tudose as the new prime minister.

"We have to solve this political crisis very fast," Iohannis said in a press conference on Monday night.

However, Tudose, 49, has been the target of criticism from media and the opposition because he was one of the ministers in ousted PM Sorin Grindeanu's cabinet who registered no achievements during the first six months of the government's mandate, according to the Social Democrats' own evaluation report.

The Social Democrats got rid of their own cabinet last week because they said it did not perform as expected.

Tudose was not the Social Democrats' first choice for prime minister, and was proposed after several other party members refuse to lead the government.

Seen as close to PSD chief Liviu Dragnea, Tudose is vice-president of the party and has a background in national security.

He taught at Romania's Intelligence Academy, the school that trains intelligence professionals for the Romanian Intelligence Service, the SRI. He was also involved in a plagiarism scandal at the same academy and requested that his PhD title be withdrawn.

Tudose took over the Economy Ministry in February, when the Grindeanu cabinet went through a reshuffle due to another political crisis triggered by large protests against a government...