President Iohannis: This interim Government to remain in office until new solution is found

President Klaus Iohannis said on Wednesday that the interim government will remain in office until a solution is found and voiced his skepticism that a solution would take form in the first round of consultations with the parties and parliamentary formations.He was asked what solutions he sees to the current crisis - minority government, technocratic government or early elections."These very solutions will have to be resulted from the consultations that will take place. And if I said that the situation is more complicated than before, I am not convinced that after the first round of consultations a solution will take form. Another round of consultations might be needed and parties need to sit down in various combinations to find solutions. Coalition policy is not conducted just through consultations at Cotroceni [Presidential Palace]. Coalitions are formed between parties. People need to have the courage to leave that pathetic rhetoric behind, to sit down and discuss concretely what can be done for Romania, because Romania must be governed. There must be a Government, or if the parties do not get along (...) then this interim Government will remain in office until a new solution is found. There is no substitute, the country cannot remain completely ungoverned and I believe that in the end everyone will understand that it is better to have a Government with full powers than an interim government," said Iohannis.Asked whether he is ruling out the possibility of dissolving Parliament and triggering early elections, President Iohannis replied: "I do not rule out any constitutional step, but whatever we do must lead to a solution, or the solution, no matter how we approach it, must ultimately be the formation of a government that goes further and solves the problems of Romania and of Romanians, this is the goal of politics".   He added, regarding the possibility of restoring the coalition by co-opting USR (Save Romania Union) to govern, that it is "difficult to negotiate with a former partner who voted to bring down your Government"."When a Government is formed, the person appointed by the president must look to make a majority, so the problem comes down to the one who will be appointed to look for a majority, but of course this concerns me. (...) If we want to analyze the facts and the political stories, we see that USR was in the Government, abandoned governing, USR voted along with PSD (Social Democratic Party) and AUR (Alliance for the Union of Romanians) for bringing down the Government where they were part of. These are some political steps with quite a weight and I do not know if the parties will wish to get over these matters. It is difficult to negotiate with a former partner who voted to bring down your Government," Iohannis said.President Iohannis was asked if he believes it is possible to restore the coalition, co-opting USR to govern after the vote of no confidence and after the last statements made by the leaders of these political formations.   In his opinion, any person supported by a parliament majority can become Prime Minister."Any person supported by a parliamentary majority can become Prime Minister. Obviously. That's what's written in the Constitution, there is no hindrance," said Iohannis.He was asked if Florin Citu can still be Prime Minister in any formula of Government after the vote in Parliament on the censure motion and if he is taking into account a new designation of him.Furthermore, when asked if he is taking into account appointing Ludovic Orban as Prime Minister-designate, in the context of an open letter penned by 40 Liberal MPs requesting it, the President answered: "From my information, the policy of parties is done in the party's forums, not the press."The head of state is participating on Wednesday in the EU-Western Balkans Summit, which takes place in Brdo, Slovenia. On Tuesday, the head of state attended the informal meeting of the European Council.