CHISINAU (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th September, 2021) Romanian President Klaus Iohannis accepted on Wednesday the resignation of Vice Prime Minister Dan Barna, who is also one of the leaders of the USR-Plus party, as well as other five USR-Plus ministers, who voluntarily resigned over differences with Prime Minister Florin Citu, the presidential office said.
Last week, Citu dismissed Justice Minister Stelian Ion, a USR-Plus member, over his opposition to the $12 billion National Program for Local Development investment project. In response to Ion's removal, USR-Plus filed a motion of censure with the parliament, followed by Barna announcing the party's withdrawal from the government.
In a statement published on its website, the office listed the decrees to dismiss Barna, along with Minister of Investments and European Projects Cristian Ghinea, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Catalin Drula, Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Claudiu Nasui, Minister of Research, Innovation and Digitalization Ciprian Teleman, and Minister of Health Ioana Mihaila.
With those gone, the investment ministry will be temporarily headed by Citu himself, while Finance Minister Dan Vilceanu will be responsible for infrastructure, Energy Minister Virgil Popescu for economy, Environment Minister Tanczos Barna for innovations, and Development Minister Zoltan Cseke for healthcare.
The Citu government was formed in December 2020 as the result of a coalition between USR-Plus, the National Liberal Party, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania.
