Ilie Bolojan's interim as Deputy Prime Minister has expired for several days. The prime minister had to propose a replacement but did not

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan did not propose a person to hold the position of deputy prime minister initially created for Dragoș Anastasiu, who resigned after finding out that in the past he gave a bribe to ANAF. At this moment, interim in this position is the prime minister.

The 45 days of interim expired on Sunday, September 28, but in the absence of sanctions provided by law Ilie Bolojan remains interim deputy prime minister until the appointment of another person in this position.

Prime Minister Bolojan is today, September 30, on the 47th day of interim deputy prime minister, although in the law of the Administrative Code it is specified that the interim period is “at most 45 days”.

The interim of Ilie Bolojan in this position began on August 14. Thus, the 45 days expired on Sunday. During this time, Ilie Bolojan made no proposal for the position of deputy prime minister left free by Anastasiu.

What did Ilie Bolojan say asked by Hotnews when he proposes a replacement

In a press conference organized last Wednesday in the government by Ilie Bolojan, Hotnews asked the chief of the executive who wants to propose for the position of Deputy Prime Minister remained free from Anastasiu's resignation.

“This position of Deputy Prime Minister is a position that has been thought of with a special specific, to be a person from outside the political world, from the entrepreneurial area or from the area of ​​social responsibility, to come up with proposals for efficiency, to come up with proposals for digitization, to increase the quality of government services, because in the moment, in this area,” Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan the answer.

“If someone comes from outside in a room like this, he immediately jumps into his eyes what is not right and such a man, who will be available in such a situation, it is not easy to find, but in the next period we will come up with a proposal to occupy this position,” said the head of the Government.

Hotnews insisted and asked Ilie Bolojan if there is a man who has accepted the proposal until then or if he simply does not want to make public the name of the person to hold the position. “In the next period we will make a proposal for this post,” said Ilie Bolojan short.

Although his interim in office expired on September 28, Bolojan has not yet made public any proposal for the position.

The provisions of the lawyl

The Government Emergency Ordinance 57/2019, regarding the Administrative Code, states, in Article 46, what is happening in the situation of a resignation in the Government:

• If the Prime Minister is in one of the situations of termination of the Government member position, except for revocation, or is unable to exercise his duties, the President of Romania designates another member of the Government as interim prime minister, to fulfill the duties of the prime minister, until the new government. The interim during the impossibility of exercising the duties ceases whether the Prime Minister resumes his activity in the Government within 45 days.
• The provisions of par. (1) shall also apply to the other members of the Government, at the proposal of the Prime Minister, for a period of no more than 45 days.
• In the situations provided in par. (2), within the 45-day term, the Prime Minister initiates the procedures provided by law for the appointment of another member of the Government as interim minister.

According to the proposal made by the prime minister, the president actually makes the appointment, according to the law. The president may refuse, motivated, a single proposal:

• In case the President of Romania refuses a proposal of the Prime Minister under the conditions of par. (3), the Prime Minister sends a new proposal to the president within 5 days from the date on which the president communicated the refusal of the previous proposal.

Failure to comply with the interim term is not a premiere in Romania.

In 2009, for example, even the entire Boc 1 government operated interim for 70 days (25 days over the term provided by law), until the appointment of the BOC 2 government, according to TVR Info.

This happened and recently, when the mandate of interim prime minister of Cătălin Predoiu, after the resignation of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, expired on June 20, and the current cabinet led by Ilie Bolojan entered his duties only three days later, on June 23.

The position of Deputy Prime Minister remained free after Dragoș Anastasiu resigned on July 27, following the disclosures that for 8 years, during 2009-2017, his companies bribed an inspector of Fiscal (ANAF) in order not to have problems.