The options for a new Government, discussed in Cotroceni. Nicușor Dan is preparing to call all parliamentary parties to official consultations. The Bolojan 2 scenario is not on the table at the moment – sources

After the president Nicușor Dan met informally with the leaders of the broken coalition last week, he will convene official consultations towards the end of the week, to which all parliamentary parties will be invited, according to official sources.

The consultations with the leaders of the parliamentary parties for the formation of the future government should take place on Thursday or Friday, after the conclusion of the B9 Summit which brings together leaders from the Baltic, Nordic and Eastern flank countries in Bucharest.

At this moment, all the scenarios are on the president's table, whether it is about restoring the coalition, a minority government consisting of PSD, UDMR and National Minorities or PNL, USR and UDMR. The option of a technocratic government is also taken into account. However, the scenario that Ilie Bolojan is appointed again by the president is not analyzed for the moment.

In addition, according to HotNews information, Nicușor Dan will not appoint a prime minister if he is not sure that he will gather the necessary votes to pass the vote of confidence test in Parliament, even if that would mean extending the discussions and the interim of Ilie Bolojan.

Official sources explained to HotNews that the head of state will impose some conditions, a “roadmap” for the future Government, regardless of the solution found after the consultations. For example, in the speech delivered on Saturday, on the occasion of Europe Day, Nicușor Dan said that the future Executive will aim to define the budget by the fall of next year.

“I reaffirm: Romania will have a pro-Western government within a reasonable period of time. There is agreement on the big policies, OECD, SAFE, PNRR. There is agreement on Romania's assumed fiscal trajectory, and, in this sense, the incoming Government will aim to define and propose to the Parliament the budget for 2027 by the fall,” the president declared on May 9.

Political leaders cannot find a middle ground

In the informal discussions that took place in Cotroceni, PSD, PNL, USR, UDMR and Minority leaders told the president the same things they say publicly, according to some political sources. And from then until now, their wishes for the future Government have not changed much.

Ciprian Ciucu, who is vice-president of the PNL and one of Ilie Bolojan's supporters, said Sunday evening on Digi24 that there can only be “two types of dialogue” between the PSD and the liberals:

“We are waiting for the PSD to take over the government, for Nicușor Dan, the president of Romania, to ask the PSD to take over the government. (…) They will come to us afterwards and say like this: please vote for us, give us a vote of confidence to pass the Government, or they will say we are incapable of governing, we are afraid, we don't want to take over the government, even if we have put Romania in such a very bad situation, please you govern and we offer you a vote of investiture”, stated Ciucu.

The PNL voted several times to support Ilie Bolojan, and at the last meeting, which took place immediately after the censure motion that dismissed the prime minister with a record number of votes, the PNL leaders decided to enter the opposition.

Then, on Monday morning, Sorin Grindeanu said that if the party decides, it will not refuse a nomination for the position of prime minister.

“If there is this proposal, if my colleagues think that I am the most suitable, I will not refuse anything,” declared the PSD leader.

When asked about the option of a minority Government consisting of PSD, UDMR and National Minorities, Grindeanu said that it is not the desired option, but that the scenario can be taken into account:

“It is not an option that I would like. Even if PSD is the one that forms that minority government or there are others. It seems at this moment that it is a scenario that can be taken into account. We will see (not those from PSD) and we will see what the president will say”.

Kelemen insists on the idea of ​​the majority coalition

HotNews reported on Saturday, citing consistent political sources, that if the PSD does not convince a part of the PNL to join a new coalition, then Nicușor Dan has no other solution but to try a PSD-UDMR minority Government.

About this option, the leader of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, also said on Monday that “it has no reality”.

“This possibility does not exist because you do not have a political reasoning, at least as far as we are concerned. Nor was such a solution proposed. We are currently trying to rebuild a majority coalition,” Kelemen said after talking with Sorin Grindeanu in the office at the Chamber of Deputies.

“A minority Government is exposed to many, many risks – you cannot make decisions, you cannot support the decisions in Parliament. I told Mr. Grindeanu that the first option is to try to restore the coalition. I would like to believe that there is still a little hope to restore the coalition”, said the UDMR leader.