Ponta II Cabinet was the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

which governed

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

from 21 December 2012 to 5 March 2014. A crisis inside the ruling coalition, the

Social Liberal Union The Social Liberal Union ( ro, Uniunea Social Liberală, USL) was a grand coalition of several political parties in Romania. The alliance contained two major centre-left and centre-right parties, more specifically the Social Democratic Party (PSD ...

(USL), resulted in the split of the governing alliance and collapse of the government.

History

On 17 December 2012, after USL victory in the legislative elections of 9 December, President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

nominated

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian jurist and politician, who served as Prime Minister of Romania between his appointment by President Traian Băsescu in May 2012 and his resignation in November 2015. A former member of ...

to form a new government, this being the only person proposed by the parliamentary parties. Ponta II Cabinet received the vote of confidence of the Parliament on 21 December, with 402 votes "for" and 120 "against". Ponta II Cabinet was composed of three deputy prime ministers, 15 ministers and nine minister-delegates. The three deputy prime ministers were: Liviu Dragnea (PSD) – Minister of Administration and Regional Development, Daniel Chițoiu (PNL) – Minister of Finance and Gabriel Oprea (UNPR) – deputy prime minister without portfolio in the field of defense and national security. Ponta II Cabinet was composed of 60 state secretaries (13 more than in Ponta I Cabinet) and 120 heads of agencies.

Controversies

Minister

Relu Fenechiu Relu Fenechiu (born July 3, 1965) is a Romanian businessman and former politician. A former member of the National Liberal Party (PNL), he was a member of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies for Iași County from 2004 to 2014. In the Victor Ponta cab ...

left on 12 July 2013 the Ministry of Transport, after he was handed a five-year prison sentence for corruption. The interim was taken by Prime Minister

. But, at its expiration, PNL was somehow obliged to submit a proposal to the Prime Minister for the position of Minister of Transport. There was conveyed the name of Nini Săpunaru, but after Ponta publicly opposed the proposal, PNL has submitted another name candidate to the ministry's seat – Ramona Mănescu. The Prime Minister accepted the proposal, and so, Ramona Mănescu took the oath on 26 August. Another minister that submitted the resignation is Varujan Vosganian, responsible for Economy. This comes after the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism asked the criminal prosecution against Vosganian, for gaff and undermining the national economy. Sources inside USL said that Vosganian resigned upon the request of Prime Minister Victor Ponta. On 12 December 2013, Minister of Culture Daniel Barbu resigned after displaced statements on "too big" budget for prevention and control of HIV/AIDS. His declarations sparked public outrage, being sanctioned by the National Council for Combating Discrimination. A few days before, President of the Senate Crin Antonescu said that Barbu should resign.

2014 governmental crisis

A major crisis is shaking the current

government of Romania , image = , caption=Logo of the Government of Romania , date = 1862 , state = Romania , address = Victoria PalaceBucharest , appointed = President , leader_title = Prime Minister , ma ...

. It was triggered a few days after PNL, constituent party of government, announced the reshuffling of four ministers. Tensions between leaders of the two major parties of government,

(PSD) and Crin Antonescu (PNL), grew until 25 February, when PNL decided in an overwhelming majority to leave the ruling coalition. A day later, all PNL ministers resigned. This situation puts the current Prime Minister Victor Ponta in difficulty, inasmuch as he is forced to form a new government.

Structure

References

{{Romanian Governments Ponta II 2012 establishments in Romania Cabinets established in 2012 Cabinets disestablished in 2014 2014 disestablishments in Romania