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FACTBOX-Backgrounds of Romania's minister nominees

Published 12/18/2008, 12:14 PM
Updated 12/18/2008, 12:15 PM

BUCHAREST, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Romania's Democrat-Liberal Party (PD-L) and the Social Democrats (PSD) nominated cabinet members for their centre-left coalition government on Thursday.

Following are brief profiles of the ministers, who face a parliamentary vote on Monday.

PRIME MINISTER EMIL BOC, 42, Democrat-Liberal leader and mayor of the major industrial town of Cluj. He is praised for his managerial skills and has close ties with President Traian Basescu.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER DAN NICA, 48, is a PSD leader, who headed the telecommunication and technology ministry in a leftist-run cabinet in 2000-2004.

FINANCE MINISTER GHEORGHE POGEA, 52, is one of the PD-L's economic strategists and a metallurgy engineer. He was briefly responsible for overseeing reforms as a deputy prime minister in 2005 and 2006. Known for avoiding the spotlight.

ECONOMY MINISTER ADRIEAN VIDEANU, 46, senior PD-L leader known as a controversial mayor of the capital Bucharest in 2005-2008. He faced criticism for doing little to unlock notorious traffic jams and fix potholed roads. He controls a family-run construction company.

FOREIGN MINISTER CRISTIAN DIACONESCU, 49, senior PSD leader and a former judge and diplomat. Diaconescu was Romania's justice minister in 2004 and negotiated Romania's border treaty with Ukraine as a deputy foreign minister in 2000-2004.

DEFENCE MINISTER MIHAI STANISOARA, 46, is Basescu's national security adviser. His career includes a brief stint as secretary general at the defence ministry, and as a PD-L deputy.

INTERIOR MINISTER GABRIEL OPREA, 47, a law and military expert, he was the government representative for Bucharest in 2002-2003 and a PSD deputy.

AGRICULTURE MINISTER ILIE SARBU, 58, was briefly a Senate speaker in 2008 and farming minister in a PSD cabinet during 2001-2004. He is a keen hunter.

TRANSPORT MINISTER RADU BERCEANU, 55, is an aeronautical engineer, and was industry minister in a centrist government in 1998-2000 and PD-L transport minister in 2006-2007.

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT MINISTER VASILE BLAGA, 56, is a senior PD-L official. He was highly praised by Brussels as interior minister in the run-up to Romania's accession to the European Union last year.

LABOUR MINISTER MARIAN SARBU, 50, was a trade union leader in the 1990s, and labour minister in a PSD cabinet in 2000-2004.

EDUCATION MINISTER ECATERINA ANDRONESCU, 60, has already headed the ministry in 2000-2003. She was a staunch proponent of massive pay hikes for teachers this year even as economists said such measures could destabilise the economy.

HEALTH MINISTER ION BAZAC, 40, was briefly a deputy health minister from the PSD and is a shareholder of Forza Rossa Romania, importer of Ferrari cars.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER NICOLAE NEMIRSCHI, 49, vice-mayor of the Black Sea port of Constanta, and former chief architect of the city.

SMEs MINISTER CONSTANTIN NITA, 53, he was the coordinator of the macroeconomic programme drafted by the PSD before last month's parliamentary election.

TELECOMMUNICATION MINISTER GABRIEL SANDU, 45, an economist and a PD-L deputy.

TOURISM MINISTER ELENA UDREA, 34, a lawyer and former adviser to Basescu, she is popular with the tabloid press. She left the Liberal Party of outgoing Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu to become a senior PD-L member.

CULTURE MINISTER THEODOR PALEOLOGU, 35, specialised in political science and philosophy at France's Sorbonne university, he comes from a well known family of Romanian intellectuals. He is a relatively new PD-L member.

SPORT MINISTER MONICA IACOB-RIDZI, 31, the leader of PD-L's youth organisation, is a founder of a non-government organisation called "Democracy for women". A European MP since 2007.

MINISTER FOR RELATIONSHIP WITH PARLIAMENT VICTOR PONTA, 36, lawyer and former prosecutor, he is one of the most fervent critics of former Justice Minister Monica Macovei, who is seen as the architect of Romania's anti-corruption reforms.

JUSTICE MINISTER - Yet to be announced. (Reporting by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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