PM Tudose announces government reshuffle as coalition tension escalates

PM Mihai Tudose says that some ministers will be replaced and the final decision will be taken during an Executive Committee of the PSD set to take place on Thursday. His statements came less than a day after he suggested in an interview that his relation with PSD head Liviu Dragnea was not in the best shape.

During the meeting of the left-wing party, the leadership of PSD will talk about the “relation between the government and the party, starting from the premise that the government is a political government”, but also about the involvement of “some party structures on the government activity” and about the “reshuffling subject,” according to Tudose. The PM added that he also talked with Dragnea’s about next year budget which is “a good, balanced budget.”

On Tuesday morning, Tudose met with president Klaus Iohannis on the back of the ongoing tensions that rattle the center-left coalition comprising PSD and ALDE.

Earlier this week, the PM suggested that five ministers might be fired, including those with legal troubles. The deputy PM Sevil Shhaideh is investigated by anti-graft prosecutors at the DNA, who also want to start prosecution against the minister delegate for EU funds Rovana Plumb. Both are PSD members.

In a separate corruption investigation, the DNA has asked the Parliament to approve the start of the prosecution phase against Viorel Ilie, the minister for the relation with the parliament. Ilie is a member of ALDE.