Romanian President Nicușor Dan is accelerating efforts to designate a new prime minister as he seeks to install a fully operational government before S&P Global Ratings’ next sovereign review, expected in early October, according to Digi24 and G4Media. S&P’s experts are due in Bucharest on September 24.

The appointment would be the third attempt to form a government since the previous administration was dismissed in a no-confidence vote. No clear outcome has yet emerged, with several candidates under consideration.

The list includes Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, presidential adviser Eugen Tomac, PSD President Sorin Grindeanu and MEP Siegfried Mureșan of the National Liberal Party (PNL), alongside Save Romania Union (USR) and Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) candidates. It has also been expanded to include diplomat Luca Niculescu, Romania’s chief negotiator for OECD accession and a candidate without an explicit political affiliation.

According to Digi24, Dan favours Niculescu to lead a PSD-centred government but would reportedly make the appointment only after the parties secure a parliamentary majority of more than 250 MPs. A government requires 233 votes for approval.

Securing that threshold could prove difficult for the Social Democratic Party (PSD) without support from the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), as PNL and USR have refused to join or conditionally support a PSD-centred coalition.

PSD could approach the required majority with support from dissident PNL lawmakers, UDMR, ethnic-minority representatives and smaller far-right parties, but would still need some AUR backing. PSD and AUR have already signed a parliamentary cooperation agreement, while AUR has called for early elections rather than immediate participation in government.

A formal PSD-AUR coalition could nevertheless face criticism from the EU. Alternative scenarios include PNL allowing individual MPs to support a PSD-centred government, according to Digi24, while G4Media reported that some AUR lawmakers could support a PNL-led administration individually.

A PSD-centred government would likely seek to meet minimum fiscal-consolidation targets while delaying structural reforms, potentially keeping the adjustment broadly on track in 2027 but increasing the risk of renewed fiscal slippage towards the end of that year and more clearly in 2028.