The Prime Minister of Romania, Victor Ciorbea, has resigned after several months of in-fighting within his centre-right coalition government. Following Mr Ciorbea's resignation, President Constantinescu is holding talks with all the major coalition partners about forming a new government. The BBC's South East European Reporter, Ana Karakusevic, asks whether the new government is likely to change much in Romanian politics.

Mr Ciorbea's resignation is the result of in-fighting within Romania's governing coalition, the Democratic Convention.

The second-largest party, the Social Democrats, have long been demanding Mr Ciorbea's resignation, and had given him a deadline of the end of this month. Last month, the Social Democrats withdrew their ministers from Mr Ciorbea's cabinet and were threatening to table a vote of no-confidence in the government.

The Social Democrats were joined at the weekend by the Liberals - a junior coalition partner - in demanding Mr Ciorbea's resignation. And on Monday, even the leader of Mr Ciorbea's own National Peasant Party Ion Diaconescu said the party would not oppose the Prime Minister's resignation.

Budget row

Nominally, the row centres on the 1998 budget, which after long delays has still has not been adopted. The Social Democrats complained that Mr Ciorbea's economic reforms were not tough enough, and said they would not vote for the budget while he remained in government.

His resignation would seem to open the way for adopting the 1998 budget - a move strongly urged by the International Monetary Fund, which wants to see Romania set out on a clearer path of economic recovery.

Deeper origins

The origins of the row between centrist coalition partners go, however, much deeper. The Social Democrats are still smarting from the forced resignations of two of their ministers several months ago. Many analysts believe that forcing the resignation of Prime Minister from the Peasant Party is their way of asserting themselves.

President Emil Constantinescu is now holding talks with the four coalition partners, and has promised to name a new prime minister on Thursday. If the outcome of these talks is successful - Romania could enter a more stable period with a reshuffled centre-right government.

The opposition leftists are already, however, warning that a new cabinet would not solve the crisis and that the only solution lies in early elections.
 

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