Luca Niculescu supports Marian Neacșu for the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Prime Minister-designate Luca Niculescu stated on Friday evening that Marian Neacșu “is a competent man” after the PSD proposed him for the position of Minister of Internal Affairs. The statement was made as he was leaving a restaurant on Primăverii Street, where Niculescu was accompanied by several ministers-designate in the future Cabinet.

Asked by journalists and by activist Marian “Ceaușescu” Moroșanu about the nomination, the prime minister-designate cited Neacșu’s political experience, noting that he had served as deputy prime minister in several governments.

The nomination brings Marian Neacșu’s conviction back into focus. In 2016, the High Court of Cassation and Justice handed him a suspended sentence for hiring his daughter at his parliamentary office. Neacșu was subsequently rehabilitated.

According to G4Media, if appointed, Marian Neacșu would become the first Minister of Internal Affairs to have been criminally convicted. He would also become a member of the Supreme Council of National Defence, the institution that manages the main decisions regarding national security. The proposed candidates must pass parliamentary hearings and the constitutional procedures for the formation of the Government.