Romanian PM resigns in agreed power swap

BUCHAREST - Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca announced his resignation on Monday, saying he expects the country's new government to be inaugurated "by the end of the week", reported Xinhua.

"Today has come the moment when I end my activity as prime minister of Romania. In this way... at the coalition level, the procedures for carrying out the rotation begin," he said at the Victoria Palace, the government's headquarters.

"We proposed to have the government inaugurated by Thursday, and in this way, we can continue to deal with issues that are priorities - both through the government programme and for everything that the government of a country means," he said.

The rotation should have taken place on May 25 but the teachers' strike in the country had delayed it. Ciuca had pledged to resolve the labour conflict before leaving office.

Trade unions in the country decided on Monday to suspend their general strike after the government's newest offer to hike teachers' wages.

Under an agreement reached by the members of the ruling coalition that was sworn in in November 2021, the country will rotate its prime minister every 18 months before the next parliamentary elections, which is expected in December 2024. Ciuca of the centre-right National Liberal Party will now hand the post to Marcel Ciolacu, president of the Social Democratic Party. - BERNAMA-XINHUA