News.ro analysis: Luca Niculescu’s program includes passages similar to those in the documents of Adrian Veștea and Siegfried Mureșan

An analysis conducted by News.ro shows that the governing program submitted to Parliament by designated Prime Minister Luca Niculescu and endorsed by the PSD contains wording identical or very similar to that in the programs of Adrian Veștea, from June, and Siegfried Mureșan, from September. Niculescu’s document was submitted on October 15, while the vote on the Government’s investiture is scheduled for October 20.

The similarities concern areas including finance, investment, healthcare, local administration and strategic infrastructure. In some cases, the measure’s name, allocated amount, timeline and responsible institution are retained. In others, the October document reproduces technical wording, the same list of projects and objectives, or passages presented in the same order.

One example is the section on fiscal responsibility. A paragraph on page 63 of Siegfried Mureșan’s program appears in a very similar form on page 6 of Luca Niculescu’s document. Both texts provide for a deficit below 3% of GDP, compliance with the net expenditure trajectory, a reduction in public debt and an assessment over at least four years of initiatives with a budgetary impact.

News.ro emphasizes that proposing the same investment does not automatically prove copying, but the association of the same names, figures, deadlines and solutions may represent a relevant indication. Libertatea requested a comment from Luca Niculescu’s team and will publish it when received.

Romania has been facing a political crisis since April, following the PSD’s withdrawal of support for the Ilie Bolojan Government and the resignations of the Social Democratic ministers. After the successive rejection of the governments proposed by Adrian Veștea and Siegfried Mureșan, Nicușor Dan designated Luca Niculescu as prime minister on October 5.