I Will Serve My Term Until 2029 and Replace Ministers Who Do Not Deliver Results, Prime Minister says

Prime Minister Vasile Tofan states that he intends to remain in office until the 2029 parliamentary elections and that he will have the freedom to reshuffle his government team whenever he believes a minister can no longer meet the Executive’s objectives.

The Prime Minister said he accepted the position in order to implement long-term reforms and not to obtain short-term political gains.

“ I am fully determined to carry my mandate through to the end. I’m not saying this because it sounds good politically. I’m saying it because I truly want this and I believe it would be a responsible thing to do,” Vasile Tofan said this evening at a TV show.

He specified that his objective is to complete his mandate in September 2029 and that he is not seeking any other public office. “I can’t come here just to tick a box on my CV. I’m not interested in other roles. I’m interested in serving my term as head of Government and, most importantly, in having impact,” the Prime Minister stated.

At the same time, the head of the Executive said there is only one situation in which he would consider resigning. “There is one reason I might leave: if I understand that I have no impact and that the country could be better served by someone else. In that case, I believe I must have the decency and respect for people to step down,” Vasile Tofan said. Referring to the Government’s activity, the Prime Minister explained that he chose to keep almost the entire current team of ministers in order to avoid blocking the European integration process.

“I wanted minimal changes in this Government, because we do not have time for experiments. We are under pressure to deliver on the European integration process, and by the end of the year we must open all clusters and I hope to close some of them as well,” Tofan declared.

The Prime Minister ruled out reorganizing ministries just for image purposes. “If I start merging ministries, nothing will happen for half a year. And then, bye-bye European Union. I don’t want to engage in populism when we have so much to deliver,” he said. However, Vasile Tofan noted that he does not rule out government reshuffles if he considers that a minister is no longer the right person for the job.

“There may be a situation in which I believe this country can be better served by another minister. Someone may be tired, demotivated, or a more suitable person may appear for that portfolio,” the Prime Minister stated. The head of Government stressed that he informed President Maia Sandu and representatives of PAS that he needs the freedom to form his own team. “I said that I must have the right to choose my team, because you cannot demand results from a leader if they cannot choose their own team. It is a basic management principle: if you demand results, you must also give the tools and the freedom,” Tofan said.

He added that if the political leadership does not trust his decisions regarding the composition of the Executive, the solution is not to block reshuffles. “If they have doubts about my ability to judge and choose the team, then they should change the Prime Minister, not resist the changes he proposes,” the Prime Minister noted. The Government led by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan was sworn in on July 21 by Parliament, with the votes of 53 MPs.