Romanian PM-designate abandons bid to become premier

Romania's Liberal prime minister-designate Florin Citu abandoned his bid to become premier on Thursday, minutes before a scheduled parliamentary vote of confidence that he had been expected to win, the presidency said. When his candidacy was proposed two weeks ago, Citu anticipated losing the vote, thus triggering a process that Liberals hoped would lead to an early parliamentary election.

But with concerns growing in Romania about the outbreak of coronavirus across the country and Europe, and the economic impact it could have, parliamentarians appeared to have changed their minds. Citu, therefore, decided to step aside, meaning that his party boss and interim prime minister Ludovic Orban could be put forward by Centrist President Klaus Iohannis as an alternative candidate.

"The president's decision to designate me was an honor," Citu said in a statement. "But it was made at a time when early elections were a solution agreed by most parties. That solution no longer exists today." "I strongly believe that to be successful in the coming elections, the party's president must also be prime minister."

President Iohannis is due to make a statement at 1730 GMT. The political turbulence began in early February, when lawmakers toppled Orban's centrist minority government after just three months, opening the way for an early parliamentary election that the Liberals were confident of winning.

Iohannis re-appointed Orban, a close ally to form a new cabinet, but his decision was struck down by the Constitutional Court. Orban's cabinet, which includes Citu as finance minister, has been running the country in the interim with limited powers.

If those powers were to be restored, Orban could still face an uphill struggle to steer Romania through the coronavirus crisis and other economic difficulties. The European Union state was already grappling with widening budget and current account deficits, while already-approved fiscal generosity ahead of local and parliamentary elections has put pressure on assets and rating outlooks.

The general election is most likely to take place in November. The Romanian leu did not react to Thursday's news, holding steady against the euro. Bucharest's blue chip index fell more than 8% to a one-year low as investors fretted over the economic hurt of coronavirus.