Kelemen Hunor, on future governing coalition: First of all, we need to trust each other

Chairman of the Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) Kelemen Hunor told AGERPRES on Friday that for a coalition to be functional and to have results, those who form it must trust each other, and the governing program should not contain populism and demagoguery. "A lot of things have to happen for it to be a good coalition, a functional coalition and with results. First of all, we have to trust each other. It is not possible without trust and trust can be strengthened, it can be grown, through dialogue, through collaboration. In order to reach a very good level of trust, because we start from the beginning, from the onset, with the idea of collaborating for four years, not four months, not a year, not a year and a half, there needs to be a governing program without populism, demagoguery, promises that cannot be covered by government decisions and actions, and we must prioritize very well what problems the Romanian society has at the moment, what the expectations of the society are and not what the innovative or less innovative ideas of politicians are. And here, things go back to the economy, to jobs, to health care, to education, to everything that means security, the safety of the citizen," said K elemen Hunor. The UDMR leader considers that there must be a division of power within the coalition, both at the level of the Legislature and at the level of the Government. "After the governing program, there must be a division of power within the coalition. It is not something one should be ashamed of, this is what happens in politics, this is what happens in a coalition. And this means the Legislature as well as the Executive, because the Executive without a strong, stable, balanced Legislature is not being backed and vice versa. In vain you have the Legislature, if you do not have a balanced government. So we must be very aware that depending on how we manage to form decision-making structures in Parliament and in the Government, on how we will have the governing program drawn up, this is how the coalition will function," the UDMR leader also said. Kelemen said that in Saturday's talks the UDMR will have proposals on what the governing program should include, such as protecting jobs, economic development, investment, but also protecting the rights of minorities. "First of all, the governing program must be perfected, because a difficult period is coming, the effects of the economic crisis generated by the pandemic are not yet seen, but they will come and we have to see what resources we have from the national budget and the budget of the European Union so as to be able to solve as many consequences of the crisis as possible. Protecting jobs as much as possible from the effects of the crisis, economic development, investment in infrastructure, agriculture are the most important things in health and in education. These will be the chapters where we will certainly have concrete proposals, on the one hand immediate measures, on the other hand, in the medium and long term, until the end of the electoral cycle," Kelemen said. He also referred to the field of ethnic minorities' rights protection, but also to the problems regarding the structure of the new government and the new parliament. "The protection of ethnic minorities, every time we are in government, there is such a chapter, without extravagant things or without any new things. And then, the political discussion, the structure of the Government. It should be an efficient government, with extremely well-defined responsibilities and of course, Parliament's structure. These are the three directions, the three levels where we will discuss, without going into details at this moment," said Kelemen Hunor. The UDMR leader also pointed out that he is optimistic about the outcome of the negotiations and hopes that they will be concluded until Parliament's composition. "I am always optimistic. In politics, if you are not optimistic, then you have chosen the wrong profession, in politics you cannot act if you do not trust that you can change things for the better, you have to be patient, of course. What are my expectations? To be able to conclude the talks until the drafting of the new Legislature, this will happen on December 21, because before the New Year we must have a Government that by December 31 has to take some decisions for the next year, including the budget. I am not saying that it's a must and it is possible, it would be good it be possible, but I am not convinced that a budget can be voted, but some decisions on which you can build the budget thereafter must be taken this year," concluded Kelemen Hunor. National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Ludovic Orban said on Thursday that there would be an agreement between the parties that will form the governing coalition, noting that the negotiations will begin on Saturday between the representatives of the Liberals, the Save Romania Union - Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity (USR PLUS) and UDMR will take place on several levels aiming at the program and the structure of the Executive and the parliamentary level. AGERPRES (RO - author: Gina Stefan, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - author: Simona Iacob, editor: Razvan-Adrian Pandea)