Romania: arch-enemies poised to govern together
In Romania, a new coalition government is forming consisting of the national-liberal PNL party of caretaker prime minister Florin Cîțu and the social-democratic PSD, whose no-confidence motion toppled Cîțu in October. The Hungarian party UDMR is to be a third partner in the coalition. The office of prime minister is to rotate between the parties. Can this alliance between long-standing enemies work?
More like two separate governments
This alliance will not last long, Adevărul blogger Ion Ionita predicts:
“It is true that this coalition would have a comfortable majority. In theory. In practice you would have two governments, a liberal and a PSD government, each with its own constraints. The negotiations have shown how different the goals of the two parties are. The desire to get into government is the only motivation pushing them into this compromise. ... But how will they get along once the ministerial posts are occupied? And for how long? The question of which party's candidate becomes prime minister first is also decisive. ... The second in line for prime minister is probably already on the list for nothing, because it's very likely that the whole thing won't last until it's his turn.”
Just grabbing profitable posts
Such an alliance lives only for itself, writes political scientist Ioan Stanomir on Contributors:
“A coalition marked by such internal tensions will not be able to offer what can give it legitimacy: stability. A president who is for the most part absent, a context of collective fear and anxiety, the inability to imagine a coherent scenario free of any demagogy, a heterogeneous and fragile opposition - this is what our political landscape looks like in the short and medium term. ... The emerging social-liberal coalition wants nothing more than to create a framework, divide up resources and feed like a parasite on the state budget. Complicity, not solidarity, will ensure its survival.”