On Monday evening, Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu relieved the state secretaries of the Romanian Hungarian Democratic Alliance (RMDSZ) and RMDSZ officials of other government offices from their positions.

As the head of the new, two-party Romanian government formed by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the National Liberal Party (PNL), Marcel Ciolacu, in a decree published in the official gazette on Monday night, replaced ten RMDSZ state secretaries, who resigned from their positions when the RMDSZ ministers left.

Deputy Prime Minister Hunor Kelemen, Minister for Development Attila Cseke, Minister for Sports Eduárd Károly and Minister for Environment Tánczos Barna handed over their places to their successors last week.

State Secretary for Health Levente Vass and Zsolt Matuz, State Secretary for Development, Csilla Hegedüs, State Secretary for the Ministry of European Projects, Antal Szabolcs Barabási for Agriculture, Róbert Szép and Lóránd Fülöp for Environment, Gábor Sándor for Transport, Izabella Kacsó-Doboly for Family Affairs, Péter Makkai for Labor Affairs, and Demeter András is also State Secretary for Culture.

In Ciolacu's decree, István Zahoránszki, the deputy chief secretary of the government, Ákos Derzsi, the deputy state secretary of the development ministry, and Levente Porzsolt, the chief inspector of the environmental protection, were relieved of their positions.

The personnel changes also affect the prime minister's cabinet, the PSD prime minister fired the chief of staff and advisers of his predecessor, Nicolae Ciuca of the PNL, and appointed new ones in their place.

The first disagreements between the two parties forming the new Romanian government appeared on Monday, after the PSD prime minister rejected the appointment of PNL's candidate for prime minister, Mircea Abrudan, who as a former prefect of Cluj County is close to one of the party's strongmen, the mayor of Cluj Emil Boc. .

After the PNL refused to propose another person for the position, according to Romanian press reports, the two governing parties will once again put the matter of Abrudan's appointment on the agenda at the coalition meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

MTI

Cover image: Romanian Prime Minister-designate Marcel Ciolacu, chairman of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), speaks before the confidence vote on his government in the parliament's chamber in Bucharest on June 15, 2023 (Photo: MTI/EPA/Robert Ghement)