PRIME MINISTER TARICEANU EXPELS PD MINISTERS FROM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000378

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/NCE AARON JENSEN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/01/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV RO
SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER TARICEANU EXPELS PD MINISTERS FROM
RESHUFFLED CABINET

Classified By: DCM Mark Taplin for 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (SBU) Summary. Prime Minister Tariceanu has followed up
his 4/1 announcement that he intended to dissolve the ruling
alliance with President Basescu's Democratic Party (PD) by
submitting a list of nominees for a reshuffled cabinet the
following day. The portfolios have been divided between the
PM,s National Liberal Party (PNL) and Romania's principal
Hungarian minority party, the UDMR. As expected, Social
Democratic opposition leader Mircea Geoana has announced his
party would vote for the new Tariceanu cabinet, labeling it
rather disingeniously as "the lesser of two evils" in light
of Romania's recent political deadlock. In fact, the
realigned cabinet would have been inconceivable without the
active collaboration of Tariceanu, Geoana and their political
allies behind the scenes; the PNL and UDMR represent together
less than one-quarter of the seats in Parliament. President
Basescu and PD party head Emil Boc both denounced the
government shake-up, with Basescu referring to the proposed
new cabinet as a "hyper-minority" one, and Boc labeling
Tariceanu as the "imposter Premier." The new government is
expected to be voted in handily by Parliament on 4/3, and
sworn in by the President the following day. End Summary.


2. (SBU) In a televised press conference April 1, Prime
Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu announced the dissolution of
the D-A allliance between his National Liberal Party (PNL)
and President Basescu's Democratic Party (PD),ending an
uneasy coalition that has ruled Romania since December 2004.
Tariceanu announced that while the D-A alliance had been a
solution for Romania in 2004, it had "exhausted its ability
to benefit Romanians". Tariceanu the following day made
public a list of nominees for a reshuffled cabinet comprised
of the PNL and the ethnic Hungarian UDMR. Tariceanu noted
that the incumbent government lacked the structure, political
unity, or coherence to fulfill
"Romania,s European agenda." Tariceanu added that the
post-EU accession government had adjusted both its
composition and priorities to meet Romania's post-accession
challenges. He listed these as 1) the fight against
corruption and implementation of a modern judicial system; 2)
minimizing the development imbalances between Romania's
various regions; 3) achieving the same level of development
of other European countries, and; 4) better capacity to
absorb EU funding.


3. (SBU) The cabinet reshuffle was accompanied by several
other modifications, billed as changes that would reduce its
overall size and make it more efficient. The most
significant change was the announcement that the Finance and
Economic ministries would be merged, something which was
attempted once before in the nineties, with unsatisfactory
results. Tariceanu announced the formal elimination of two
(out of three) Deputy Prime Minister positions (already
accomplished de facto last year) , and retaining just one
position of minister delegate (compared with the previous
five). As expected, the portfolio of the former Ministry for
European Integration will be recast as a new Ministry of
Development, Public Works and Housing; a new Ministry for
Small and Medium enterprises (SME),Tourism, Trade and
Liberal professions was also created; the portfolio of the
Education and Research Ministry will be expanded to include
youth issues; the Ministry of Administration and Interior has
now been recast as the Ministry of Interior and
Administrative Reform; and finally, the Ministry of
Environment and Water Management has been renamed the
Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.


4. (SBU) The new cabinet is made up exclusively of members
of the National Liberal Party and of the Democratic Union of
Hungarians from Romania (UDMR),with the support of the
Social Democratic Party (PSD),which many predict will garner
a large share of sub-cabinet positions in return for its
backing. In the reshuffled cabinet, the PNL will control the
office of PM and 13 portfolios, UDMR will hold the office of
deputy PM and 3 portfolios. A list of proposed ministerial
appointments follows:

Prime Minister: Calin Popescu-Tariceanu (PNL)
Minister of State (deputy PM): incumbent Marko Bela (UDMR)
Minister of Justice: Teodor Chiuariu (PNL),head of the
govermnent,s anti-fraud department
- replacing Monica Macovei (no party affiliation, supported
by PD)
Minister of Economy and Finance: incumbent Varujan Vosganian
(PNL)
- ministries of economy and finance have merged: former
Minister of finance Sebastian Vladescu loses office
Minister of Labor: Paul Pacuraru (PNL),member of the Senate
- replacing Gheorghe Barbu (PD)

BUCHAREST 00000378 002 OF 002


Minister of Regional Development: Laszlo Borbely (UDMR),
delegate minister for public works and territorial management
- this ministry replaced Ministry of European Integration led
by Anca Boagiu (PD)
Minister of Foreign Affairs: Adrian Cioroianu (PNL),member
of the Senate
- replacing Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, dismissed in February
Minister of Administration and Interior: Cristian David
(PNL),delegate minister for the control of implementation of
programs with European funds..
- replacing Vasile Blaga (PD)
Minister of Defense: Teodor Melescanu (PNL),vice-president
of the Senate
- replacing Sorin Frunzaverde (PD)
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development:
Decebal Traian Remes (PNL),PNL general secretary, former
minister of finance (1998-2000)
- replacing Dan Motreanu (PNL) - (note: who probably
discovered he was not prepared for a very complex portfolio)
Minister of Transportation, Constructions and Tourism:
Ludovic Orban (PNL),vice-mayor of Bucharest
- replacing Radu Berceanu (PD)
Minister of Education and Research: Cristian Adomnitei (PNL),
leader of the PNL youth
- replacing Mihail Hardau (PD)
Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs: incumbent Adrian
Iorgulescu (PNL)
Minister of Health: incumbent Eugen Nicolaescu (PNL)
Minister of Communications: incumbent Zsolt Nagy (UDMR)
Minister of Environment: Attila Korody (UDMR),secretary of
state/deputy minister in the same minister
- replacing Sulfina Barbu (PD)
Minister delegate for relationship with parliament: incumbent
Mihai Voicu (PNL)
Minister for Small and Medium Entreprises: Ovidiu Silaghi
(PNL),member of the Chamber of Deputies
- new portfolio


5. (C) In response to the PM's announcement of the
government reorganization, President Basescu and PD head Emil
Boc launched a sharp political counterattack. Boc, seated
alongside the other PD bigwigs like former Interior Minister
Blaga and Bucharest mayor Videanu, accused Tariceanu of
"treason," arguing that the PM had constructed "an
illegitimate government, in betrayal of the Alliance's
electorate, with an imposter premier." Boc repeatedly
labeled the new configuration as a "PSD-PNL" government,
insisting that Romanians needed to recognize the Liberals had
in fact come to an accommodation with the Alliance's 2004
electoral foes, the Social Democrats of Iliescu and Nastase.
In an open letter to the presidents of the Senate and the
Chamber of Deputies, Basescu repeatedly referred to Tariceanu
as "the former Prime Minister of the Aliance," and argued
that the "hyper-minority" government that he was bringing
forward for parliamentary approval risked provoking a rupture
between Parliament and Romanian society because it only
represented, he claimed, 22% of parliamentary mandates. Most
media commentators last night, whatever their attitudes
towards the two palaces, cast doubt on the longevity of the
new governmental line-up. Even PSD leader Geoana, who has
pressed hard for this outcome since mid-January, was anything
but ebulient. While he argued that "the Alliance's rupture
is good news for Romania," he warned the Liberals that the
new government was one with "a limited mandate," and that
"once we have done our homework, we will replace it." He
also made it clear the PSD plans to press forward with its
presidential suspension effort, stating that Basescu was "the
principal obstacle to (political) calm."


6. (C) Comment: After many weeks of agonizing debate and
posturing, the Prime Minister finally decided to cast his lot
with the opposition and against Basescu. Parliament will
convene in a joint session on April 3 to vote on the new
cabinet. With a total of 254 votes (72 PNL, 150 PSD, 32
UDMR),the new government should be voted in with no problem
even if legal challenges emerge in the weeks ahead. (note:
the remaining major parties have a total of 176 seats at
their disposal, including 70 for the PD, 31 PRM, 27 PDL, and
47 PC). Given that the PNL and UDMR together enjoy the
support of only about a quarter of all parliamentary seats,
the new cabinet is in fact a politically artificial construct
that will have to bargain for its life on issues large and
small with the bigger and better organized "opposition" PSD.
At best, it might provide a temporary respite from the
current political and institutional deadlock. Septel will
report on some of the new figures in the Tariceanu cabinet.
End Comment.
TAUBMAN