Prime Minister-designate Luca Niculescu said on Tuesday, following discussions with representatives of the political parties and parliamentary groups on forming a government, that he is 'optimistic' and is not thinking about the possibility of a failure, mentioning that all options 'remain on the table,' namely a political, hybrid or technocratic government.

Niculescu said he is focused on his mission to form a government and is not thinking about the 'possibility of failure.'

'The talks were about forming the government, but they were also about the governing programme and what matters to Romanians. Romanians want a government with full powers that will address their problems, which are numerous. As we know, we have been going through a political crisis for so many months, an economic crisis that needs to be resolved, a social crisis that more and more people are feeling. All these talks were held with representatives of Parliament, I discussed these issues with them and reiterated that this Government is needed to address their problems. We discussed more technical matters, draft laws, documents that can be adopted and reforms that can be implemented, we covered a very broad range of topics in our discussions and I want to thank them,' Niculescu said at Parliament.

He said that, following negotiations with the parliamentary parties, he is optimistic about the investiture vote.

'All the options I mentioned yesterday remain on the table: a political government, a hybrid government, political and technocratic, or a technocratic government. As far as I am concerned, I am optimistic that we will reach a good outcome,' Niculescu said.

The prime minister-designate added that he needs to make a decision 'fairly quickly' on one of the options and that he is holding daily talks with the leaders of the political parties on this matter.

He mentioned that, in the event of a technocratic government, he already has a list of potential ministers.

'For a technocratic government, I have a list that we could present as early as tomorrow, or even today, but discussions are still ongoing. I have already spoken positively about Alexandru Nazare and I will not do so again, because I have already outlined all the qualities I believe he possesses. Obviously, there are competent people who could be part of a technocratic government. Any name I mention now will give rise to further discussions,' the prime minister-designate said.

Asked whether he was considering holding talks with the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) or S.O.S. Romania party, he replied: 'I have held talks with parties that have shown a willingness to vote for such a government or to vote for a government, whether political, technocratic or mixed. The party you are referring to has said that it is not currently willing to vote for a government. That does not mean that, once I am invested in office, I will not come to Parliament and ask ministers to come to Parliament to talk, in line with their institutional responsibilities, with parliamentary representatives, because they are the representatives of the people. So, I would say, it will be a very natural sign of openness towards this institution, which is extremely representative of democracy, namely Parliament. (...) I have the utmost respect for the voters of Romania's parties and there will be time for discussions once the government has been invested. There is not that much time left, and I am now focusing on forming the government.'

Niculescu underscored that he is not thinking about bout the possibility of a failure.

'I am focused on my mission, which is to form a government, and I am not thinking about the possibility of a failure. (...) I am in constant talks with the leaders of all the parties I have already spoken to, sometimes these talks take place in the public domain and you see us, too, while at other times they take place over the phone, but, obviously, negotiations are always ongoing, because the parties realise just as well as you do and just as well as I do how important it is for this country to emerge from the crisis. We are talking about forming a government which Romania needs urgently, because we need a budget revision, without a budget revision, we will soon face major problems with the functioning of the administration, with schools, with fuel for institutions, with payments made by state institutions to private companies and with the payment of certain bills to city halls. These are extremely tangible problems that each of us feels and that each of you will feel. It is difficult to explain why we are unable to form a government,' Niculescu conveyed.

Regarding the proposal for an agreement between the parties, Niculescu said: 'Yesterday, I proposed that there should be some form of agreement between the parties supporting the investiture of this government, we are in talks, I have seen one reaction and there will probably be others, but, as I was saying, no negotiation is over until it is over, the agreement is open to everyone.' AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Alina Novaceanu; EN - writing by: Rodica State)

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