THE MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR THE CROITORU GOVERNMENT: Parliament to vote on the fate of the Croitoru team of ministers

• If the Croitoru government does not earn the vote of the Parliament, the next nomination of president Traian Băsescu could be Mihai Tănăsescu, Romania"s official with the IMF

The appointed Prime Minister Lucian Croitoru, will present today before the Parliament its governing program, hoping to obtain the vote of confidence from a Parliament that is predominantly hostile.

In order for its governing offer to be validated, the prime minister appointed by president Traian Băsescu needs 236 votes, which seems extremely unlikely, considering that the only political party that backs him PD-L, has 172 parliamentarians.

The "transparent parliamentary majority", comprising PSD+PC, PNL, UDMR and the minorities (apart from the Hungarians), announced its decision to back Klaus Johannis, the mayor of Sibiu and advised the appointed prime minister Lucian Croitoru to resign, because he has no chance to win the Parliament"s approval.

Besides, out of the 14 ministers that are part of the Croitoru Cabinet, only two of them were approved by the specialized parliamentary commissions: Vasile Blaga, for the Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism and Bogdan Aurescu in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

President Traian Băsescu recently said he would consider a second nomination for the position of Prime Minister if the Cabinet is voted down.

Besides, the president said that he hasn"t discussed with anybody the possibility of appointing a new prime minister in case Lucian Croitoru doesn"t receive the vote of confidence.

When asked if Mihai Tănăsescu, Romania"s representative with the IMF could be one of the candidates, as suggested by Agerpres, the president replied: "I haven"t discussed with anybody the option of appointing a new prime minister but the parties are looking for another prime minister. So Tănăsescu could very well be proposed by some party".

Mihai Tănăsescu, former minister of Finance in the 2000-2004 government, recently said he has received several administrative offers at a central level, and implied he might be one of the nominees for the position of prime minister.

According to the Constitution, the president can dissolve the parliament, "if it did not grant the vote of confidence for the creation of the Government within 60 days from the first request to do so and only after the rejection of at least two appointed governments".

The only party that announced its support for Lucian Croitoru, Democrat-Liberals led by Emil Boc recently announced they are getting ready for the vote. The interim prime-minister Emil Boc, recently expressed his conviction that today, the Croitorul Cabinet will get the vote of confidence of the Parliament. "I hope the MPs will prove their wisdom and vote for the Croitoru government", said Boc. The vicepresident of the PD-L, Gheorghe Flutur, said in turn, that the Parliamentary groups of of the PD-L are mobilized and ready to support the Government proposed by the designated prime minister, Lucian Croitoru.

The parliamentary parties that create the "political transparent majority" however think the Croitoru Government doesn"t stand a chance.

The spokesperson of PSD, Bogdan Niculescu Duvăz, yesterday announced in a press conference, that social democrats will vote against the Croitoru government. He did not mention however whether PSD will boycott the vote or vote against the proposed government.

Liberals announced, through prime-vice-president Ludovic Orban, that they would vote against the Government created by the designated Prime Minister Lucian Croitoru. Ludovic Orban again demanded that president Traian Băsescu revoke the appointment of Croitoru and nominate Klaus Iohannis, who liberals claim could serve as a solution for escaping the political crisis.

Leader of UDMR, Marko Bela said that MPs of his party will not vote in favor fo the Croitoru government either. According to him, "a rational and logical decision" would be for the designated prime minister to withdraw his proposals and return the mandate that he has received from the President.