Sorin Ionescu, former PSD deputy prefect of Timiș and high school principal, could become delegated minister for pre-university education in the Luca Niculescu Government

Nicoleta Onofrei

15 October 2026, 15:36

Politics

Sorin Ionescu / FOTO: INQUAM PHOTOS / Virgil Simonescu

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Sorin Ionescu, a history teacher, principal of the Bănățean National College in Timișoara and a PSD member, is being considered for the position of delegated minister for pre-university education in the Luca Niculescu Government, according to sources from Edupedu.ro and G4Media.ro. The proposal is being analyzed before the list of ministers and the governing program are submitted to Parliament.

If confirmed, the appointment would introduce, for the first time in recent history, a delegated minister for pre-university education. The Ministry of Education would have dual leadership: Sorin Costreie, the presidential adviser on education, as the full minister and a technocrat, and Sorin Ionescu as the politically appointed delegated minister. The exact responsibilities and division of powers have not yet been established.

Ionescu has led the Bănățean National College since 2014 and has been a PSD member since 2000. He served as a local councilor for the municipality of Timișoara, deputy general school inspector, and deputy prefect of Timiș between January 2022 and April 2024. Subsequently, he returned to lead the college and secured a local councilor mandate for the 2024-2028 period.

In the 2025-2026 school year, the institution introduced a pilot program for 12th-grade students, with four days of in-person classes and one online day. Ionescu justified the measure by citing the students’ heavy workload.

Ionescu would be the second delegated minister in the Luca Niculescu Government, after Bogdan Dumitru, Bitdefender’s chief researcher, who is being considered for the position of delegated minister for Communications and Artificial Intelligence within the Ministry of Economy and Digitalization.

Context: The Latest Negotiations for a Luca Niculescu Government

Before the list of ministers and the governing program were submitted, information emerged about possible nominations in the Luca Niculescu Cabinet. Among the names being discussed are presidential adviser Sorin Costreie for Education, while both independent figures and proposals associated with the PSD were mentioned for other portfolios.

Discussions about the composition of the Executive were placed in the context of a negotiated formula, described as a “mixed government,” in which the Social Democrats would enter government alongside independent ministers. Luca Niculescu was expected to submit the list and governing program to Parliament on Thursday.

Luca Niculescu’s nomination for the position of prime minister was made by presidential decree, after the governments of Adrian Veștea and Siegfried Mureșan failed to pass the parliamentary vote.

President Nicușor Dan said on Thursday that he expects the Luca Niculescu government to be installed on Tuesday.

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