New Minister of Labour is Sebastian Lăzăroiu

Former presidential adviser and sociologist Sebastian Lăzăroiu is the new Minister of Labour.

He took the oath at the Cotroceni Palace.

President Traian Băsescu congratulated the new minister and said that he knew about the problems Romania was facing.

‘You are one of the people who know very well, at the level of the presidential institution, the problems Romania is dealing with, including those related to employment problems and welfare’, the president said.

The social system reform is ’on ‘

Traian Băsescu said that the nomination of Sebastian Lăzăroiu came at the right time for the Ministry of Labour.

‘I would say that your nomination comes at the right time because the social reform in Romania is on, even if it is not quite ready yet.’ At the same time, during this week, the World Bank has approved a loan of 500 million dollars for your ministry, for improving and streamlining the social welfare system.’

Previously, Prime Minister Emil Boc submitted to the Romanian President, Traian Băsescu the nomination of Sebastian Lăzăroiu as Minister of Labour, Family and Social Welfare, according to a government statement.

Minister of Labour position available after a resignation related to an alleged conflict of interest

Emic Boc occupied temporarily the Minister of Labour position after the former minister, Ioan Botiș, resigned.

Ioan Botiș’s resignation came after being confronted with allegations about a possible conflict of interest between the position he was holding and his wife managing European and budgetary funds at an association in Bistriţa.

Ioan Botiș said that he resigned from his position ’for reasons of morality’, because he wanted to solve problems ‘particularly’.

In announcing his resignation, Ioan Botiș apologized publicly to the fellow citizens of the Bistrița municipality and expressed hope that the laws that he had passed during his mandate would lead to a better standard of living.

Translated by: Denisse-Meda Bucura
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University