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PM Citu dismisses Vlad Voiculescu as health minister
Prime Minister Florin Citu dismissed Health Minister Vlad Voiculescu on Wednesday. Citu announced on Wednesday evening having taken over as acting Health Minister after Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna refused to accept this responsibility and that he will stay in office until "the coalition colleagues" make a nomination for the Health portfolio.
Citu mentioned that he has two online conferences scheduled on Thursday with the Public Health Directorate (DSP) heads and with COVID hospital managers.
"Along with the proposal to dismiss Mr. Vlad Voiculescu from office, I sent Mr. President the proposal to appoint Mr. Dan Barna as interim Health Minister. Given Mr. Dan Barna's refusal to take on this responsibility at this time, I forwarded to the President of Romania a new proposal for the job - myself, a proposal that has been accepted. I will therefore take over as interim Health Minister until our coalition colleagues appoint a minister to take over these responsibilities," Florin Citu said on Wednesday at the Victoria Palace of Government.
The head of the Executive specified that he already had a meeting with a part of the Health Ministry's leadership.
"Tomorrow I will have two online conferences, with all the DSP directors and all the directors of COVID hospitals. In this difficult period, our priority remains ensuring the 1,600 intensive care beds and managing this rough stretch," Citu pointed out.
În turn, the Deputy Prime Minister Dan Barna requested on Wednesday an emergency coalition meeting in order to discuss the withdrawal of confidence in Prime Minister Florin Citu.
"We are requesting an emergency meeting, today or tomorrow at the latest (...) to discuss the solution through which USR (Save Romania Union) PLUS (Party of Liberty, Unity and Solidarity) wishes to keep responsibility alongside PNL (National Liberal Party) and UDMR (Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania), (...) regarding what Romania means after the crisis and what a Romania that is starting to get better might mean. The fact that we have been sitting around for weeks for a political ballet, without seeing support from the Prime Minister, is a very dramatic problem which we mean to clarify within the coalition. And I am saying that because reproaches are being addressed to Vlad Voiculescu which he never had under control," Barna said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that revoking the Minister of Health, Vlad Voiculescu, is a "unilateral decision", "politically immature", which "raises questions" regarding Prime Minister Florin Citu's ability to run a "functional coalition" during this period.
According to him, revoking Vlad Voiculescu is a decision which throws the governing coalition into a "major" crisis.
"It is a decision by which, as of this moment, Prime Minister Florin Citu no longer has the support of the USR PLUS Alliance. Vlad Voiculescu, since day one, started a fight with the corrupt and tick-infested health system, a very complex battle, and I saw the very vehement and harsh reactions and the media lynching which targeted him in the last weeks. The transparency of the act of governing, carrying out procedures for building new hospitals, contests at the Health Houses are all actions taken at the Ministry of Health which hit a very large blockage," Barna also said.
Dan Barna mentioned that the Prime Minister has the right to evaluate the ministers' performance, but revoking Voiculescu "is based on no evaluation".