PM Dancila asks President Iohannis to motivate his rejection of three gov't picks

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said on Thursday she had sent to President Klaus Iohannis a request for him to motivate the rejection of her picks for the minister of justice Eugen Nicolicea, minister of European funds Oana Florea and minister for Romanians abroad Liviu Tit Brailoiu. In an interview to daily Adevarul, she said she did not agree with the restructuring of her cabinet, because she would rather do it "the normal way". "I talked to Mr Dragnea, we consult each other; he is the chairman of the party, it is normal for us to have discussions on each project. I did not agree with the restructuring of the government (...) I thought we had to go the normal way. I started from two aspects: I do not want a Dancila 2 Cabinet, I want to have the same cabinet. The second reason is related to President Iohannis' assertions that he will feel neglected and go before the Constitutional Court, which mean an impasse will be reached again. The third aspect: I have considered that the government is functioning well as it is now. Today I have sent to the President a request for him to motivate the rejection of the three picks, because I believe that the opportunity to appoint a new minister is up to the prime minister to decide. The President will only have to say something if there are legality issues about a recommended minister, not about the opportuneness," Dancila said when asked how she would respond to the request of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) national chairman Liviu Dragnea, who gave her until after the holidays to come up before Parliament for a new vote of confidence, and if, under such circumstances, he would accept the restructuring. Regarding the answer she will give to Dragnea after Easter, Dancila said: "On this subject, I decided to follow the normal path without restructuring. I will think about it during the holidays," adding that there is quite unlikely for her to have second thoughts about it. Asked if the picks for interim ministers - Ana Birchall, Eugen Teodorovici, Stefan Radu Oprea - were hers or the result of a discussion with Dragnea, the prime minister explained: "I talked to the party chairman, I could not leave things unattended. I discussed with Mr Dragnea and together we decided on the picks for interim minister." Dancila said that she did not know whether or not the initial three picks will still be standing, and that the issue will be considered at a convention of the PSD Executive Committee. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Florea, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - author: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu, editor: Rodica State)