The newly re-elected Romanian president, Traian Băsescu, has reappointed Emil Boc as prime minister. Recall that Boc’s government was brought down in October when the PSD defected from the coalition and there was a successful vote of no-confidence. Anyway, President Băsescu has now re-nominated Boc as prime minister – actually he never left office because no replacement was ever approved – and parliament will have to confirm him.

Whether or not parliament does confirm Boc is another issue. Following the presidential election, there has been speculation that the PNL party, which helped to bring down Boc and which supported Băsescu’s main rival at the presidential election, would be willing to join a coalition with the president’s PDL party in a coalition that perhaps includes the Hungarians, the UDMR, who also voted against Boc.

The main obstacle in the formation of this coalition was the choice of PM. The PNL wanted the position and Băsescu refused. That said, some elements of the PNL did not want to enter the coalition at all.

The bottom line is that Boc’s nomination is by no means guaranteed to be approved by parliament. Therefore, there is still the possibility of a dissolution.