Prime Minister Notifies President Of Transports Candidacy Withdrawal

This comes after Draghici announced on Saturday that he will relinquish his bid for the office, after the president rejected him several times and failed to give an answer for his last nomination for the role.

Formaer Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu, the Prime Minister’s choice to head the Regional Development Minister, also announced the withdrawal of her candidacy last week.

The two cabinet roles have been in the middle of a dispute between the president and the prime minister since mid-December, when the head of state refused to appoint Dancila’s proposals for the two offices during a government reshuffle.

Draghici was initially proposed for the regional development job after the president refused to appoint businessman Ilan Laufer, but was rejected and then unsuccessfully also nominated as transports minister several times.

The president invoked procedural errors as reasons for rejecting the two cabinet nominations several times, before he announced last week that he deemed Vasilescu unfit for the role and requested PM Dancila to nominate a different candidate.