Romanian President Designates Acting PM Emil Boc To Lead New Govt

"Considering the current political situation, I have to adopt the only solution I see right now for Romania to meet its top priority, which is to have a government. That is why I have considered the proposition of the Democratic Liberal Party and issued the presidential decree designating Emil Boc for prime minister," Basescu said.

He added Boc is dedicated to public service, ahs done his duty as lawmaker, mayor and then prime minister, he is open to dialog and took responsibility for the implementation of difficult solutions required by the country's agreements with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Union.

Boc's Cabinet collapsed in a no-confidence vote in Parliament in October after social democrats switched to opposition, but his government has remained in office with limited powers because the Parliament thumbed down the cabinet proposed by economist Lucian Croitoru and then refused to even hold a vote on a second prime minister-designate.

Basescu has said he would like the country to have a legitimate government in place by Christmas or by New Year's at the latest. The list with the new proposed Cabinet is expected to be submitted to Parliament no later than Saturday, December 19.

Boc's Democratic Liberal Party has the most seats in Parliament, 167, but these are not enough to push through a new Cabinet as 236 votes are required.

The future government has the support of independent lawmakers and of national minorities in Parliament. Liberal Party vice-president Puiu Hasotti said Thursday morning that liberals will endorse a new Cabinet but will not hesitate to thumb down legal initiatives it proposes if they are not in line with liberal principles.

Hard-hit by the global recession, Romania relies on a EUR20 billion IMF-led rescue loan. International financial institutions withheld tranches of the loan the country was supposed to get this month citing political instability and the lack of a state budget for 2010. An IMF mission is currently in Romania to discuss next year's state budget and mission head Jeffrey Franks said the country could get further loan disbursements in February.

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