Romanian president appoints Social-Democrat nominee as PM

BUCHAREST -- Romanian President Klaus Iohannis appointed Social Democrat nominee, European lawmaker Viorica Dancila, as prime minister on Wednesday and handed her a mandate to form a new government.

Dancila will become the first woman prime minister in the history of the Eastern European country.

Iohannis made the decision after consultations earlier Wednesday with parliamentary parties when main opposition parties had neither concrete proposals for the prime minister's position, nor a political understanding between them.

"Having weighed all arguments, taking into account the concrete situation in Parliament, I have decided to give the Social Democratic Party (PSD) one more chance," said the president, stressing that now the Social Democrats must show a strong performance, as "Romanians have great expectations, I have great expectations as well."

The president called on those involved in forming the government to get moving so that the entire procedure can be completed by Feb 1.

Under the constitution, Dancila will seek a vote of confidence from Parliament regarding her governing program and complete list of the government within 10 days of her designation.

PSD leader Liviu Dragnea stated after the designation that the president chose stability by appointing Dancila as Prime Minister, "despite the pressure of the opposition parties."

"We thank him for this, and we really appreciate this very much," he said in a press statement.

Dancila, 54, became a member of the PSD in 1996. In 2014, she was elected as deputy in the European Parliament for a second term.

Before entering politics, she was an engineer with the then National Oil Company Petrom SA, and prior to that, a teacher at a secondary school.

Dancila will become the third head of government of the Social Democrats which won the parliamentary elections at the end of 2016.

Her predecessor Mihai Tudose, being recently in disagreement with party chairman Liviu Dragnea, was forced to resign after the PSD leadership decided to withdraw its political support for him late Monday.

Tudose took over as prime minister last June, from Sorin Grindeanu who lost power in a no-confidence vote brought by his own party also due to a conflict with party leader Dragnea.