Romanian PM Asks President To Approve Nicolai’s Nomination ‘At Once’

The presidency brought no legal argument against Nicolai’s nomination, and any other responsible state official would have signed the decree to appoint her as minister, Tariceanu said.

He said a possible discussion on the matter between him and Basescu would not be legal or constitutional, as the prime minister does not negotiate his nominations.

Earlier today, Tariceanu decided to decline Basescu’s invitation for talks on the issue of the proposal for justice minister, considering the president has no constitutional prerogatives to reject his proposal, people close to the matter said.

The president on Tuesday sent Tariceanu an open letter asking him to discard the proposal of Nicolai for the position, saying her reputation has been dented in the public eye.

In his turn, Tariceanu sent President Traian Basescu a letter saying the reasons cited by the president for the rejection of senator Norica Nicolai as justice minister are ungrounded.

Moreover, Tariceanu is considering notifying the Constitutional court if the president still refuses to sign the decree appointing Nicolai as justice minister.

Under the Constitutional Court Decision 356/2007, the president does not have veto rights in the matter, but may check whether the nominee is right for the position and may ask the prime minister to nominate someone else, if the request is motivated.

The Constitutional Court formulated the abovementioned decision when president Basescu early 2007 had refused to appoint liberal Adrian Cioroianu as foreign affairs minister.

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