The Governing Programme submitted to Parliament by Prime Minister-designate Dacian Ciolos has as a starting point the tragic events that took place in Bucharest’s Colectiv Club, which “triggered a wave of expectation at society level” and “gave a new moral mandate to political parties,” highlighting that the future Government must find an answer to these aspects.
The document states that the Ciolos Government cannot embark and will not commit to reforming the Romanian society on all fronts.
“The task of this Government is to create the necessary framework, neutral from a political point of view, for these structural preparations to take place. At the same time, it will create the appropriate organizational framework to conduct electoral processes in optimal conditions, for all Romanians, wherever they are,” the Governing Programme states.
The Ciolos Cabinet commits to amend in emergency regime the electoral law and establish two rounds of elections for choosing mayors and presidents of county councils, the elimination of the threshold for local councils, the decrease of the number of signatures needed for independent candidates, the possibility for independent candidates to form associations on the candidates’ lists for local councils, facilitating the creation of voting sections for Romanians abroad in countries hosting sizable Romanian communities.
Moreover, the document notes the existence of a project to merge all elections and to give all terms a duration of five years as well as to hold presidential, parliamentary, EP elections, and local elections on the same date in order to minimize the negative impact of electoral processes on the country’s economic and social life. In addition, the document includes a proposal for the facilitation of the involvement of citizen groups in drafting legislative initiatives.
The chief objective of the Ciolos Cabinet is to strengthen the macroeconomic parameters and the country’s sustainable development prospects, with focus on eliminating the vulnerabilities in the absorption of EU funds, once the implementation of programs for the period 2007-2013 is finalized and all programs for 2014-2020 are launched in emergency regime.
The principles of taxation refer to providing a stable, predictable and transparent framework, and provide for the de-bureaucratisation, simplification and harmonization of regulations.
Investment in infrastructure will be given priority as well and ongoing projects will be evaluated in order to speed up their implementation.
The document also points to Romania’s focus on the relationship with Brussels and the major topics of debate in the EU.
The list of priorities includes: an open and transparent Government, engaged in dialogue with democratic institutions and the society as a political actor; the active positioning on Romania as a strategic actor in a regional, European and international context, with focus on neighbourhood relations; ensuring the full support of the independence of justice and continuing the fight against corruption; no electoral process in Romania should ever be put in question due to the manner in which it was organized; improving the efficiency of public administration, in the service of citizens; revising and prioritizing investment projects (including in the infrastructure) with the purpose to create jobs and increase productivity; shifting the focus in the education process on conveying information, creating life skills and reducing bureaucratic tasks that weigh on the teacher.
The Governing Programme also includes a set of measures to be implemented during its upcoming term. The objectives are: to strengthen elective democracy and the rule of law to create the premises for the resetting of the country’s political environment; stabilizing the economic environment and increasing the confidence of businesses and of capital providers with the perspective to develop economy; avoid potential economic side-slips in election years. More…