Romania gov’t collapses as coalition partner quits

BUCHAREST, Romania — Romania’s coalition government collapsed Thursday after nine ministers from the Social Democrats quit to protest the firing of the interior minister for comments about possible election fraud.

Social Democratic Party leader Mircea Geoana said the ministers resigned “in solidarity” with Dan Nica, a party member fired by Prime Minister Emil Boc on Monday over a statement he made about potential fraud in the upcoming Nov. 22 election.

The comments were widely interpreted as an accusation that Boc’s Liberal Democrats might try to cheat to get President Traian Basescu re-elected.

The coalition collapse goes far beyond the ministers. Thousands of Social Democrats will now lose their jobs in national and local posts throughout Romania.

Geoana blamed Basescu for instigating the political crisis, saying it created further uncertainty in Romania ahead of the election.

“Throwing Romania in this political crisis will have grave effects,” said Nica, who was also deputy prime minister, as he stood with the ministers who resigned. “Each minister tried to do their duty.”

He vowed the party would return to the government after the presidential election.

Basescu said that Boc would find ministers within the government to cover the vacant positions. Boc has 45 days to present a new government and find a parliamentary majority to approve it, Basescu said. He denied there was evidence of possible fraud in the upcoming presidential elections

Mired in a deep recession, Romania is dependent on a loan from the International Monetary Fund to pay state salaries. In recent weeks, there have been protests and strikes by railway workers, magistrates and some public workers.

According to a coalition agreement, the Interior Ministry is led by the Social Democrats. Boc named Vasile Blaga, a Liberal Democrat who is close to Basescu, as the interim interior minister on Tuesday.

The ministry is one of the country’s most powerful because it controls a controversial domestic intelligence agency and has almost 200,000 employees. Both Basescu and Geoana are expected to run in presidential elections.

The prime minister met with EU ambassadors on Thursday to assure them that Romania would respect its financial obligations to the IMF, and would continue financial and pension reforms, his office said.

Liberal Democrat Adriean Videanu, who is economy minister, blamed the Social Democrats for this crisis and called the party “hypocritical” for walking out.

“The Social Democratic Party is sacrificing the country for a person. It is sacrificing the country and it is sacrificing the interests of Romanians,” Videanu said. “Their only agenda is the presidential elections.”

He said the party could have chose another minister from its ranks rather than quit the government.

Boc is likely to try and find ministers from his Democratic Liberal Party and have a minority government until the presidential election. He may also seek an alliance with a party that represents the interests of Romania’s 1.4 million ethnic Hungarians.

Basescu’s office cut short a visit to Cluj in northwest Romania to return early to Bucharest because of the crisis.