Romania’s president on Friday named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation’s new prime minister, bringing to a close weeks of uncertainty since the left won a parliamentary vote on December 11. The centre-right president Klaus Iohannis signed the official decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new premier. Grindeanu now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.

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The nomination sought to put an end to a political crisis sparked when Iohannis rejected a previous candidate who would have been the country’s first female and first Muslim prime minister.

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The president offered no reasons for his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, initially put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband’s background.

Sources close to the president had indicated yesterday that Grindeanu was considered a “better solution.”

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He is seen in Romania as a “disciplined soldier” within the PSD ranks and said himself in a recent interview that he had joined the party very young as an outlet for his leftist convictions. The PSD had proposed the previously little-known Shhaideh after its thumping poll victory on December 11 when it won 45 per cent of the vote, enough to form a majority coalition with its partners ALDE.

Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania’s small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.

Instead the focus was likely on her husband, 54, who worked in the Syrian agriculture ministry for 20 years before emigrating to Romania in 2011 and marrying Shhaideh the same year, according to the PSD.

Website HotNews cited unnamed sources as saying that the security services had “strongly cautioned” against Shhaideh’s nomination because of the closeness of her husband and his two brothers to President Bashar al-Assad regime.

This might have made giving Shhaideh the necessary security clearances to be the NATO member’s prime minister problematic. PSD leader Liviu Dragnea had withdrawn his own bid to become prime minister because of a conviction that bars him from office.

On Tuesday after Shhaideh’s rejection, Dragnea said the PSD was considering its options including moving to suspend Iohannis or going to the constitutional court. “In our opinion the president is determined to set off a political crisis,” Dragnea had warned. “If our conclusion is that it is in the country’s interest to suspend Mr Iohannis, I won’t hesitate.”

However, any attempt by the PSD to remove the head of state would have been problematic because Iohannis was entitled to request a second proposal for premier.</s>President Klaus Iohannis has designated veteran leftist Sorin Grindeanu as the new Romanian head of government. Previously, Iohannis refused to endorse a female, Muslim candidate who was criticized for her inexperience....
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• Romanian president rejects left's candidate for prime minister DW World (3 days ago) - Romanian President Klaus Iohannis has rejected the leftist Social Democrat Party's (PSD) proposal to name...</s>BUCHAREST: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation’s new prime minister, bringing to a close weeks of uncertainty since the left won a parliamentary vote on December 11.

The centre-right president has signed a decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new premier.

Grindeanu now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.</s>Bucharest: Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday gave the mandate to Sorin Grindeanu, a second candidate proposed for the post of Prime Minister, to form a new government.

The ruling coalition led by the Social Democratic Party nominated Grindeanu on Wednesday, a day after the President rejected its first nominee Sevil Shhaideh, a female Muslim from the ethnic Tatar minority, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the country's constitution, Grindeanu has 10 days to form a government, and win a confidence vote in parliament.

Grindeanu, 43, became chairman of the Timis county council after local elections in June 2016.

Also read: Romania set to have its first woman and first Muslim Prime Minister

He has been a member of the Social Democratic Party since 1996 and served as Communications Minister between December 2014 and November 2015.

The Social Democrats won more than 45 per cent of the vote in the December 11 general elections.

Together with its junior partner, the Alliance of Democrats and Liberals, it has an outright majority of 250 seats in the 465-member parliament.</s>Romanian President Klaus Iohannis on Friday named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation’s new prime minister, bringing to a close weeks of uncertainty since the left won a parliamentary vote on December 11.

The centre-right president has signed a decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new premier.

Grindeanu now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.

The nomination sought to put an end to a political crisis in Romania sparked when after Iohannis rejected a previous candidate who would have been the country’s first female and first Muslim prime minister.

The president offered no reasons for his rejection of Sevil Shhaideh, initially put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband’s background.

Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania’s small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.

The PSD had proposed the previously little-known Shhaideh after its thumping poll victory on December 11 when it won 45 percent of the vote, enough to form a majority coalition with its partners ALDE.

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea had withdrawn his own bid to become prime minister because of a conviction that bars him from office.

The PSD’s election triumph came barely a year since anger over a deadly nightclub fire that killed 64 people forced it from office.

The inferno was blamed on corruption — something Brussels has long complained about since Romania joined the EU in 2007.</s>President Klaus Iohannis designated Sorin Grindeanu. Grindeanu, 43, was the second nomination of the Social-Democrat Party-led coalition.

The President rejected the first candidate, Sevil Shhaideh, who would have been Romania’s first female and Muslim Prime Minister.

Grindeanu is a former communications minister (2014-2015) and is currently the leader of a county council in western Romania.

Both candidates are largely junior members of the Social Democratic Party, seen as standing in for the leader of PSD, Liviu Dragnea.

Early on, Klaus Iohannis made it clear he would not nominate Liviu Dragnea, who is serving two years suspended sentence for electoral fraud. Dragnea was convicted in April for cheating in the referendum to impeach the former President Traian Basescu in 2012.

Romanians went to the polls two weeks ago, with the PSD securing 46% of the vote and along with their junior coalition partners – the Liberal Democratic Alliance – they hold a 52% majority.</s>Ex-Romanian minister considered a "better solution" than Muslim candidate Sevil Shhaideh, who was rejected by president.

Romania's president has named social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the nation's new prime minister, after turning down an economist who could have become the country's first female Muslim premier.

The centre-right president Klaus Iohannis signed the official decree naming Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister, as the new prime minister.

Grindeanu is a member of the Social Democratic Party that won December 11 elections, and chairman of the Timis county council. He now faces a confidence vote in parliament on his programme and cabinet nominees.

The nomination sought to put an end to a political crisis sparked when Iohannis rejected Sevil Shhaideh, who would have been the country's first female and first Muslim government leader.

The president offered no reasons for his rejection of Shhaideh, initially put forward by the Social Democrats (PSD), but there was speculation that it was due to her Syrian husband's background.

Sources close to the president had indicated on Thursday that Grindeanu was considered a "better solution".

He is seen in Romania as a "disciplined soldier" within the PSD ranks and said himself in a recent interview that he had joined the party very young as an outlet for his leftist convictions.

The PSD had proposed the previously little-known Shhaideh after its thumping poll victory on December 11 when it won 45 percent of the vote, enough to form a majority coalition with its partners the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats.

Shhaideh, 52, who has only five months ministerial experience, is from Romania's small and long-established Turkish minority, but her Muslim faith is not thought to have been the problem.

Instead the focus was probably on her husband, 54, who worked in the Syrian agriculture ministry for 20 years before emigrating to Romania in 2011 and marrying Shhaideh in the same year, according to the PSD.

Website HotNews cited unnamed sources as saying that the security services had "strongly cautioned" against Shhaideh's nomination because of the closeness of her husband and his two brothers to President Bashar al-Assad's government.

The PSD's election triumph came barely a year since anger over a deadly nightclub fire that killed 64 people forced it from office.

The inferno was blamed on corruption, something Brussels has long complained about since Romania joined the European Union in 2007.</s>Romania's Social Democrat party (PSD), victor of a general election two weeks ago, on Wednesday proposed former telecommunications minister Sorin Grindeanu, a veteran leftist politician, for prime minister. The PSD's first pick to lead the cabinet was Sevil Shhaideh, a close associate of PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, who was ruled out of the job by his criminal sentence in a 2012 referendum-rigging case. Shhaideh's nomination was rejected by the president.



Grindeanu, a 43-year-old mathematician and former deputy mayor of the western city of Timisoara, currently the head of Timis county governing council, is expected to easily win the presidential seal of approval, political commentators said.



"Sorin Grindeanu goes there (to lead the government) for a full four-year term as prime minister," Dragnea told reporters. "We have chosen not to throw the country into political crisis.



"We had to find a solution in a colleague loyal to the governing program and the party," he added.



Dragnea said it was unlikely a new leftist government would be in place before the end of the year. He has said he will closely watch over the government's performance.



The PSD won the Dec. 11 election by a wide margin and, with coalition partner and long-time ally ALDE, has 250 of the 465 seats in the two houses of parliament, meaning it would easily get parliamentary approval for its government.



Grindeanu "is a hard proposal to refuse", said Sergiu Miscoiu, political science professor at Babes-B



olyai University in Cluj. "He is a regional pillar of the PSD, former deputy mayor, former minister, young. He meets the criteria."



The PSD's clear election victory has heightened uncertainty over Romania's ability to keep its budget deficit below the EU's ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product, as their governing program includes ambitious spending plans.



The PSD and its ALDE junior ally will send the proposal to President Klaus Iohannis later in the day and the president is expected to endorse a prime minister-designate on Thursday. "It is a great responsibility that I feel, not just my colleagues' vote but that of Romanians for a governing program that we must enforce," Grindeanu said.</s>Romania's president has nominated a regional politician as the next prime minister, after turning down an economist who could have become the country's first female Muslim premier.

President Klaus Iohannis on Friday endorsed Sorin Grindeanu, 43, to become premier. Grindeanu is a member of the Social Democratic Party that won Dec. 11 elections, and chairman of the Timis county council. Parliament needs to approve him.

The nomination came after Iohannis declined to endorse Sevil Shhaideh.

As well as her lack of political experience, Shhaideh sparked concerns due to reports about her Syrian-born husband's support of Syrian President Bashar Assad on his Arabic-language Facebook page.

Social Democrat chairman Liviu Dragnea cannot become premier because he was convicted this year of election fraud.</s>BUCHAREST - Romania's Social Democrats stepped back from a potential constitutional crisis Wednesday by making a second proposal for prime minister after their first choice was rejected by the president. "We have decided not to plunge the country into a new political crisis... As a result we have decided to make a new proposal," PSD chief Liviu Dragnea said after a meeting of his left-wing party.

The new candidate is Sorin Grindeanu, a 43-year-old former communications minister. The PSD's first choice was Sevil Shhaideh, who would have been Romania's first female and first Muslim premier. President Klaus Iohannis rejected Shhaideh, who is from Romania's small and well-established Turkish minority, on Tuesday. Iohannis gave no reason for his decision but there was speculation that Shhaideh's Syrian husband's background was the decisive factor. Dragnea, who cannot stand as premier himself because of a conviction, threatened on Tuesday to initiate proceedings to suspend Iohannis.

But on Wednesday Dragnea walked back on the threat, saying such action would be "irresponsible".

The PSD won a thumping election victory on December 11, barely a year after a deadly nightclub fire forced it from office. Together with the ALDE party it has a majority in parliament.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis designates social-democrat Sorin Grindeanu as the country's new prime minister, after the victory of the centre-left PSD earlier this month.