Ponta II Cabinet was the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

which governed

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

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

Social Liberal Union The Social Liberal Union (, USL) was a grand coalition of several political parties which was active in Romania during the early to mid 2010s. The alliance contained two major political parties, one major centre-left and one centre-right, more sp ...

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

History

On 17 December 2012, after

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

victory in the legislative elections of 9 December, President

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

nominated

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

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 Liviu Nicolae Dragnea (; born 28 October 1962) is a Romanian engineer and former politician. Starting his career in the Democratic Party (PD), he joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD), eventually becoming its leader. After holding several pos ...

(PSD) – Minister of Administration and Regional Development, Daniel Chițoiu (PNL) – Minister of Finance and

Gabriel Oprea Gabriel Oprea (; born 1 January 1961) is a Romanian politician and a general in the army reserves. The former president of the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR) and a former member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) who is now ...

(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 c ...

left on 12 July 2013 the Ministry of Transport, after he was handed a five-year prison sentence for

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. 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 Ramona Nicole Mănescu (born 6 December 1972, Constanţa) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. From 24 July 2019 to 4 November 2019, she served as minister of Foreign Affairs in the Romanian Government. She was a Member of the European Parliame ...

. 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 Varujan Vosganian (; , born on 25 July 1958) is a Romanian politician, economist, essayist and poet of Armenian origin. Vosganian was Romania's Minister of Economy and Commerce (2006–2008) in the Tăriceanu cabinet and Minister of Economy in t ...

, 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 George Crin Laurențiu Antonescu (; born 21 September 1959) is a Romanian politician and history teacher who served as Acting President of Romania in 2012. He was also candidate in the 2009 and 2025 presidential elections, finishing both in thir ...

said that Barbu should resign.

2014 governmental crisis

A major crisis is shaking the current

government of Romania The Government of Romania () forms one half of the executive branch of the government of Romania (the other half being the office of the President of Romania). It is headed by the Prime Minister of Romania, and consists of the ministries, variou ...

. 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

(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