President Appoints New Transports, Development Ministers

The Presidential Administration announced that Iohannis signed the decrees to appoint Razvan Cuc as transports minister and Daniel Suciu as regional development minister and deputy prime minister.

The two were nominated in an attempt to end a deadlock on the offices ongoing since November 2018, when Iohannis first rejected the prime minister’s proposals for the two offices.

Razvan Cuc previously held the transports office between June and October 2017, during the Mihai Tudose cabinet, and resigned following criticism from party leader Liviu Dragnea.

Daniel Suciu, the social democrats’ group leader in Romania’s Lower Chamber, has not held any previous cabinet role and is currently serving his second term as MP.

President Iohannis had previously refused all nominations made by the ruling Social Democrat Party and PM Viorica Dancila for the two offices following a cabinet reshuffle in November 2018, citing either procedural problems or the candidates not being qualified for the proposed roles.

Former Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu and ruling party treasurer Mihai Draghici both withdrew their candidacies last week, after the president refused to appoint them several times.