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Dacian Ciolos has the opportunity to become prime-minister again
Dacian Ciolos, 52 years old, recently elected chairman of USR PLUS has the opportunity to become premier again after six years since the moment when he took over the leadership of the government for the first time, at that moment due to the social pressure created after the fire at Colectiv and the votes of PSD and PNL.
Ciolos worked in politics during this student years when he activated in the youth organisation of a nationalist movement. Then he became minister of agriculture in the Tariceanu government, European commissionaire, prime-minister and the leader of the group Renew in the European Parliament, position which he gave up after his election as USR leadership.
By profession horticulture engineer, Dacian Ciolos gets involved civically since his student years. At the beginning of the 90's he joins Junimea Vatra Romaneasca Cluj, the youth branch of the nationalist movement ‘Uniunea Vatra Romaneasca, set up in 1990 as an answer to the UDMR.
Vatra Romaneasca, organisation of the extreme right, considered UDMR as a danger for the territorial unity of Romania. Beyond the civic movement, Vatra Romaneasca coordinated their political activity with PUNR, a ultra-nationalist party led by Gheorghe Funar.
In the mid-90’s Dacian Ciolos gets a governmental scholarship of the French state and goes to study in Rennes and Montpellier. After his master degree taken in France, Dacian Ciolos works as intern agro-economist with the European Commission. Later, he coordinates several agricultural programmes with European financing, being a connection between Romania and the European institutions.
In 2005, Ciolos becomes the adviser of the new minister of agriculture, Gheorghe Flutur, in the Alliance DA (PNL –PD) government. Flutur lasts as minister for two years, then Dan Motreanu replaces him for a short period of time, then being replaced by Decebal Traian Remes. In the autumn of 2007m Remes resigns, as a result of the corruption scandal ‘ The sausage’. Dacian Ciolos becomes the minister of agriculture, at the proposal of PNL premier Calin Popescu Tariceanu. Ciolos keeps the position to the end of 2008, when PNL loses the parliamentary elections and gets into opposition.
Dacian Ciolos is recovered by president Traian Basescu who names him at the leadership of the Presidential Commission for the national strategy in agriculture. At the end of 2009, the Boc government, controlled by Traian Basescu in the shadows, proposes Dacian Ciolos as European Commissionaire for agriculture as the Romanian representative in the European Commission led by Jose Manuel Barroso. Ciolos is validated unanimously by the European Parliament.
After the Euro-parliamentary elections of 2014, president Traian Basescu negotiates with the European leaders that Dacian Ciolos stays as commissionaire for Agriculture in the new commission led by Jean-Claude Juncker, but the premier of that time, Victor Ponta supported Corina Cretu. In the end, Corina Cretu was elected for Regional Development. In the summer of 2015, Jean-Claude Juncker nominates Dacian Ciolos as adviser for international food safety, position which he occupies for some months.
In November 2015, the Ponta government resigns as a result of the Colectiv tragedy. President Klaus Iohannis names Dacian Ciolos as premier, to make a technocratic government. Due to the social pressure, the Ciolos government is voted in the parliament both by PSD (led by Liviu Dragnea) and PNL (led by Alina Gorghiu). Before the parliamentary elections of 2016, the most important parties of the right –PNL and USR – announce they support Dacian Ciolos for the position of premier, but during the campaign, Ciolos hesitates to get politically involved as he claims to be a technocratic premier. As a consequence, the voting is won by PSD with 45%.
In January 2017, President Klaus Iohannis names Sorin Grindeanu as premier and the Ciolos government ends its mandate. Later, Dacian Ciolos sets up Platforma Romania 100, which gives birth to the political party Miscarea Romania Impreuna. But the party is blocked in court. As a result, Dacian Ciolos abandons the project and at the end of 2018 announces another party: PLUS.
In the spring of 2019, PLUS gets an alliance with USR and the two parties go together to the Euro-parliamentary elections of 2019. Dacian Ciolos is at the top of the list USR PLUS for the European Parliament and the Alliance gets a historic score: 22.4% of the votes, being the third, after PNL (27%) and PSD (22.5).
The result of the Alliance USR PLUS was given by the street protests and strong opposition in the parliament against the attempts of the PSD leader Liviu Dragnea to avoid being imprisoned by maiming the criminal legislation. The second day after the Euro-parliamentary elections, Liviu Dragnea was sentenced to three years and a half in the file of fictitious employment in the Teleorman Child Protection Office.
In the summer of 2019, Dacian Ciolos becomes the leader of the group Renew from the European Parliament, the third body as size in Brussels. Renew has strong connections with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron. Practically, Dacian Ciolos is the Romanian with the most important position in the European institutions, after that of European commissionaire for transport, Adina Valean. But the position of European commissionaire comes automatically to Romania by its accession to the EU, while the leadership of a political group is individually negotiated.
In case the domestic elections for the leadership of the new party USR PLUS are won by Dacian Ciolos, he will give up the leadership of the group Renew to get more involved in the politics in Romania. However, Ciolos will not resign from his position as MEP.According to News.ro, Dacian Ciolos announced his party colleagues that he did not intend to become vice-premier or minister in case PNL and USR PLUS resume their governing coalition.