Romania Ruling Party Set to Name New PM

Romania's ruling Social Democrat Party, the PSD, is due to name a new Prime Minister by Monday after it voted the former Prime Minister out of office on Wednesday.

However, the party risks facing problems in securing a majority in parliament as questions arose over the loyalty of 14 MPs, including former Prime Minister Victor Ponta, and several members of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, ALDE, who voted against the impeachment motion.

President Klaus Iohannis, who is representing Romania at the European Council until Friday, called for consultations with all parliamentary factions on Monday.

Social Democrat leader Liviu Dragnea said on Wednesday, after the vote in parliament, that he had four proposals for the PM's post, but would choose one name following talks with allies in parliament and a Social Democrat leadership meeting in the weekend.

He excluded the possibility of a technocratic Prime Minister, saying that he or she "should be an honest, responsible person, not an adventurer, and should have the ability to implement the government program".  

"Romania is back to normal," he maintained. The impeachment motion had been "a political move by the PSD and ALDE and we were aware of the risks. But we could not risk an ambitious government program being questioned," he added.

Iohannis, who left Berlin for Brussels on Wednesday, said that he expected a valid proposal for the Prime Minister's post to come from the Social Democrats. "I did not change my position on the integrity of the Prime Minister," he said in Berlin.

In January, Iohannis warned that he would never appoint a Prime Minister who had been sentenced or investigated for graft.

The Prime Minister is usually the head of the party with the majority...