Romania's prime minister Emil Boc resigned today after weeks of nationwide protests against austerity measures and before a parliamentary election due late this year.
Mr Boc enforced the cuts, including slashing public salaries by a quarter and raising sales tax, to complete a €20 billion International Monetary Fund bailout deal and boost the economy after a deep and bitter recession.
Thousands of Romanians have braved freezing temperatures in the last month to protest against Boc and his ally, president Traian Basescu.
"It is the moment for important political decisions. From this point of view, I took the decision to give up the government's mandate," Mr Boc said in a speech after a government meeting.
His centrist PDL party scores less than 20 per cent in opinion polls, with a parliamentary election due late this year.
Victor Ponta, leader of the leftist USL opposition alliance which has more than 50 per cent support in opinion polls, said last week he wanted an early election and was committed to working with the IMF.
President Traian Basescu named Mr Boc's justice minister, Catalin Predoiu, to replace him at the head of a government.
It was not immediately clear, however, whether Mr Predoiu would form a new government or simply hold the reins until Mr Basescu has had more time to consider his options.The IMF said it did not expect the deal to be affected by Mr Boc's departure.
"I see no reason necessarily for this to have a material effect on the aid agreement. We have every expectation the agreement will continue," the IMF mission chief in Bucharest, Jeffrey Franks, told Reuters.
"It's very likely that the next prime minister will be a technocrat, probably from the central bank or even someone from the central intelligence services ," said political commentator Mircea Marian.
"Mr Boc's resignation doesn't mean there will necessarily be a domino effect. But the other ministers will have to make their own decisions on whether they will leave or hold out until the elections in the fall."
Reuters