ROMANIAN PM DESIGNATE PROPOSES NEW CABINET,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BUCHAREST 003524

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH
STATE ALSO FOR INR/B

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/27/2014
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM SOCI ECON PINR RO
SUBJECT: ROMANIAN PM DESIGNATE PROPOSES NEW CABINET,
PARLIAMENTARY APPROVAL PREDICTED "SOON"

REF: A. A) BUCHAREST 3513


B. B) BUCHAREST 3512

C. C) BUCHAREST 3479

Classified By: DEPUTY CHIEF OF MISSION THOMAS L. DELARE FOR REASONS 1.4
B AND D


1. (C) Summary. Prime Minister designate Calin Popescu
Tariceanu announced his proposed cabinet December 26, with
parliament's vote of confidence on the list likely to take
place as early as December 28. Many of the proposed
ministers are relatively young, with limited experience. The
Humanist Party (PUR),which shifted its allegiance to the
center-right National Liberal Party-Democratic Party (PNL-PD)
Alliance late last week, and the ethnic Hungarian party
(UDMR) both hold key portfolios in the proposed cabinet. End
Summary.


2. (C) PM Designate Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced the
new government's proposed list of twenty-four ministers
December 26, affirming that the nominees were selected for
their "professional performance and moral integrity." The
widely expected announcement came after days of intense
PNL-PD Alliance negotiations with UDMR, PUR and the Chamber
of Deputies' parliamentary minorities group. According to
sources in parliament, Parliamentary Commissions will begin
reviewing the nominations December 27. Tariceanu also is
expected to submit to Parliament December 27 his proposed
"program of government," essentially the center-right
Alliance's governing roadmap. Parliament may meet in joint
session as early as December 28 to vote on the slate and the
program of government. PUR's decision late last week to join
forces with the UDMR and the parliamentary minorities group
in supporting the PNL-PD alliance (Ref B) provides the
necessary "yes" votes for parliamentary approval of the
proposed cabinet.


3. (C) Although PNL and PD members dominate the cabinet
list, both the UDMR and PUR emerged as big winners following
their endorsement of the alliance, securing several key
ministerial slots. UDMR President Bela Marko and PUR Senator
George Copos will each be Deputy Prime Ministers. Marko will
coordinate matters concerning culture, education, and EU
integration. Copos' portfolio has not been formally
established, but his title encompasses coordination of the
"business environment and small and medium enterprises".


4. (C) While Tariceanu's proposed ministerial list contains
many fresh - and young - faces. The plethora of new faces
has led many Romanian dailies to question whether the new
cabinet will possess the professional skills and experience
needed in Romania's rough and tumble political scene. Rumors
also circulated regarding newly elected President Basescu's
"meddling" in the proposed cabinet, with one leading daily
reporting that Basescu--renowned for his "hands on"
managerial style (read: micromanagement) --changed the
distribution of several portfolios after negotiations with
the parties already had been concluded. (Comment: Post views
these news analyses with caution, since some of the print
media is clearly hostile to the new team. End Comment.)


5. (C) The proposed ministerial list is set forth below.
Post provides biographical data on designees except in those
cases where we have recently submitted biographical
background information. (See Refs A and C.):

- Minister of State (Vice Prime Minister) for economic
activities - Adriean Videanu.

-Minister of State (Vice Prime Minister) for culture,
education, and EU integration ) Bela Marko. Marko is
President of the UDMR and has served in the Romanian Senate
for more than a decade. During a nationally televised
presidential debate prior to the November 28 parliamentary
and first round of presidential elections, Marko infuriated
extreme nationalists by delivering his opening statement in
Hungarian. He gained five percent in the first round of
presidential elections. Until a few weeks ago, Marko's UDMR
was allied with the PSD; he was a mastermind of the PSD-UDMR
alliance initially formed in 2001.

-Minister of State (Vice Prime Minister) in charge of
business environment and small and medium enterprises )
George Copos. Recently elected Senator Copos is a newcomer
to electoral politics, entering the Senate this fall under
the PUR banner. Indeed, he joined the PUR only a few weeks
before the November 28 parliamentary elections, receiving a
favorable position on PUR's parliamentary list. He is one of
Romania's wealthiest businessmen, holding a major share of
Ana Holding (industry, trade and tourism). He also owns the
popular Bucharest soccer club "Rapid." Affiliated before the
revolution with the youth branch of the Communist Party,
Copos managed to get state aid for his companies both under
the outgoing, center-left Social Democratic Party (PSD)
government and previous governments. The 52-year-old Copos
appears a marked contrast with the proposed cabinet's
youngish, reformist bent.

-Minister of Foreign Affairs - Mihai Razvan Ungureanu

-Minister of Interior and Administration - Vasile Blaga

-Minister of Justice - Monica Macovei is not affiliated with
any political party, insisting when she accepted the
nomination for Justice Minister that she has no intention of
joining any party. She is a lawyer and the president of
respected NGO APADOR-CH (Association for the Defense of Human
Rights Romania ) Helsinki Committee). She successfully
represented Romanian citizens in lawsuits against the
Romanian state. APADOR-CH was a founding member of the
Coalition for a Clean Parliament, which sought to educate
voters on candidates' anticorruption track records during the
2004 parliamentary elections.

-Minister of Public Finance - Ionut Popescu

-Minister of Labor, Social Solidarity and Family - Gheorghe
Barbu is a member of the Democratic Party and was President
of the Hunedoara county council from 1996-2000. Elected
deputy for Hunedoara in 2000 and again in 2004, Barbu is a
Basescu confidant). When Basescu took over the party, Barbu
became the PD Vice President for Trade Union Partnerships. A
member of the Chamber of Deputies standing Commission on
Labor, he focused on problems related to the pension system.
The 53-year-old Barbu served as a MOD State Secretary for six
months in 2000.

-Minister of European Integration - Cristina Parvulescu.
The 29-year-old Parvulescu has worked in Bucharest's City
Hall since 2001, presently serving as Director of the city's
"Directorate of Strategic Planning." Before 2001, she worked
at the Ministry of Industry. She is a graduate of the
Academy of Economic Sciences.

-Minister of Economy - Codrut Seres. Seres is one the PUR's
most prominent politicians and is the party's spokesperson.
He was nominated as the PUR presidential candidate after
PUR's successful local elections campaign in June. Seres
withdrew his candidacy after PUR joined forces with PSD late
summer this year. As is the case with all PUR politicians,
Seres owes his political career to PUR President and media
magnate Dan Voiculescu. Seres began working for Voiculescu
at his Antenna 1 TV station before being promoted to Director
for Development and Strategies at Grivco, one of
Voiculescu,s most successful enterprises. He is a graduate
of a military academy and is an engineer by training.

-Minister of National Defense - Teodor Atanasiu. The
42-year-old Atanasiu is a PNL member and became president of
the Alba county council in June 2004. He was manager of the
Cugir armaments plant from 1987 to 1995, and from 1997 to
2000, according to press reports. He was a board member of
the Privatization Authority from 1996 to 2000. The choice of
Atanasiu was widely viewed as a "surprise" pick.

-Minister of Transportation, Construction and Tourism -
Gheorghe Dobre. Touted as one of Basescu,s right hand men,
Dobre has been the Director of Bucharest City Hall,s
Inspection and Control department since 2001. He served as
the MOT,s Secretary General (1998)2000) as well as in the
MOT's Organization and Control department (1996-1998). He was
a Prefect for Dolj County in the 1990's.

-Minister of Agriculture - Gheorghe Flutur

-Minister of Education and Research - Mircea Miclea. PD
Member Miclea is chair of the Babes Bolyai University
psychology department and is, at 41 years of age, reputedly
the youngest professor at the university. Miclea, who has a
PhD in cognitive psychology, was Chancellor General for the
university from 2000-2003.

-Minister of Culture - Mona Musca

-Minister of Health - Mircea Cinteza

-Minister of Communication and IT - Nagy Szolt. Currently
UDMR Executive Vice Chairman for territorial organizations
and local public administration, Szolt coordinated the UDMR
local and general election campaigns. Nagy is known as a
technocrat and a good organizer, but has not yet served in
Parliament. He is in his early 30's.
-General Secretary of the Government - Mihai Voicu. Since
2001, he has served as the PNL General Secretary, actively
involved in party management and the PNL electoral campaigns.
The 36-year-old Voicu was president of PNL youth branch from
1991 to 1994. An engineer by training, he has experience as
a manager and works as a consultant. He kept a low profile
until recently, when he successfully ran for deputy from Dolj
County.

-Minister of Environment - Sulfina Barbu. The 37-year-old
Barbu is a PD member recently promoted to Director of
Bucharest City Hall,s Environment Department. She
previously served as Deputy Director. She is a graduate of
Bucharest University's Geophysics Department. Prior to
joining Basescu's City Hall in 2001, she worked in the
private sector.

-Minister Delegate for implementation of international
financing programs - Cristian David

-Minister Delegate for Coordination with Control Authorities
- Sorin Vicol. This 34-year-old PUR member worked for a
short period of time with the State Asset Management
Authority (AVAB) and has not held any leading positions
within the PUR.

-Minister Delegate for Parliamentary Relations - Bogdan
Olteanu

-Minister Delegate for Public Works and Territorial
Administration - Laszlo Borbely. UDMR member Borbely has
been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 1990. He
served as State Secretary for the Ministry of Public Works
from 1996 to 2000. Borbely is the UDMR Executive Vice
President in charge of relations with governmental
institutions. He has served on numerous standing committees
over the years and is widely respected by his colleagues in
the Chamber.

- Iuliu Winkler (UDMR, Minister Delegate for Trade) has been
President of the UDMR Hunedoara County branch since 2001, was
a county councilor (1996-1999) and a Deputy Prefect
(1999-2000). He served in the Chamber of Deputies from
2000-2004. He has a background in finance and insurance and
has also studied engineering. The 40-year-old Winkler speaks
fluent English, as well as German and French, and is a
graduate of the prestigious National Defense College. He is
a valued Embassy interlocutor.


6. (C) Comment. In keeping with its campaign pledge,
Tariceanu's cabinet list proposes to bring many relatively
new faces into senior government positions. Few played
significant roles in the controversial center-right 1996-2000
government. Moreover, few of the proposed ministers, in
marked contrast to the outgoing ruling center-left Social
Democratic Party (PSD) cabinet, are tainted by association
with Romania's communist past. Many are simply too young.
Assuming the Parliament green lights the proposed cabinet,
Basescu and Tariceanu's "fresh faces" can anticipate a strong
dose of realpolitik as they deal with savvy PSD legislators
entrenched in key parliamentary leadership positions,
including the presidencies of the Senate and Chamber of
Deputies. End Comment.


7. (U) Amembassy Bucharest,s reporting telegrams are
available on the Bucharest SIPRNET Website:
www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/bucharest .
CROUCH