PNL

Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Ludovic Orban voiced on Saturday his appreciation and support for Prime Minister Florin Citu, pointing out that the latter's decision to sack Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu was "indispensable and appropriate, laying the groundwork for an enhanced performance of the government in health care".

Romania's Prime Minister, Florin Citu, on Wednesday dismissed Vlad Voiculescu as Minister of Health after a series of blunders that included the deaths of three COVID-19 patients after ventilators failed at a Bucharest mobile ICU.

"I have handed President Klaus Iohannis the necessary documents to revoke Vlad Voiculescu from his post as Minister of Health," Citu said in a statement.

Govt must repeal ban on share sales

According to finance ministry data, the Romanian state owns 208 companies, of which 67 were loss-making as of September 30, 2020. Their combined net losses amounted to 1.97 billion lei or more than 400 million euros in the first nine months of last year. Some 54 had debts amounting to 3.92 billion lei, or more than 800 million euros.

The country will navigate this storm brought about by the pandemic with a new parliament that emerged from the December 6 general election - whose results were a major disappointment for many mostly young reformist voters with centre or centre-right pro-EU views. 

The ruling National Liberal Party, PNL, the centrist USR PLUS alliance and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, UDMR, sealed a deal on Monday night to form a coalition government that is expected to be approved by parliament in the coming days.

Civil society organisations have accused the Bucharest government of allowing Romania to remain the country of origin of most victims of trafficking in the EU.

On 19 November, 2019, 63 NGOs addressed an open letter to the then new centre-right government, demanding that it take measures to more efficiently fight human trafficking.

The ruling centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, went to the polls with its leader and then-prime minister, Ludovic Orban, as their choice to head the new government. 

But the PNL's unexpected defeat on Sunday at the hands of the opposition Social Democratic Party, PSD, which won 29 per cent of the votes, 4 more per cent than the PNL, left Orban in a precarious position. 

Romania's Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca was named interim prime minister on Monday evening after Ludovic Orban resigned over his ruling centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL's poor showing in Sunday's parliamentary election.

The PNL was widely considered the front-runner at the polls, but was defeated by the opposition Social Democratic Party, PSD.

The Social Democratic Party, PSD, scored a surprise win in Romania's parliamentary elections on Sunday, which saw a record low turnout of voters amid the coronavirus pandemic.

After votes from over 99 per cent of the polling stations were counted, the PSD got 30 per cent of the vote, followed by the ruling, centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, with 25 per cent.

The leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL) Sibiu county organization, Raluca Turcan, announced that the Liberals will build a government without Social Democratic Party (PSD). Also, Raluca Turcan stated that PNL won by a landslide the parliamentary elections in Sibiu County, but did not mention the results of the parallel count yet.