Meanwhile, Reuters writes, PM Ungureanu has already mentioned the possibility of an increase in salaries and pensions within certain limits, should the economy allow it. This is why some Romanians hope that the new prime minister, supported by president Traian Basescu, may fulfill their hopes for higher living standards, while trying to salvage what’s left of the public image of the Liberal Democratic Party before the elections. On the other hand, according to Associated Press, critics warn that the newly appointed ministers, most of whom are unknown to the public, might act as puppets of the former ministers. In a feature called “Romanian Politics: New Government, Old Problems”, the British weekly The Economist writes that most Romanians seemed to have grown tired of president Traian Basescu, whose term in office is to expire in 2014.

Basescu, the weekly adds, has many qualities, such as earthy humour and boundless energy, but they are “wearing thin, and the tiresome qualities (unpredictability, poor judgment) increasingly rile even his supporters.” The government led by Mihai Razvan Ungureanu, a polyglot Oxford educated historian, will have a hard time regaining lost ground before the legislative elections slated for November.