Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who also leads the National Liberal Party (PNL), announced on Saturday, 17 October, that officials backed by the party would hand in their resignations in the first days of the following week. He tied the move to the PNL's decision to go into opposition, saying the officials would no longer keep the posts they hold with party backing. The party will support the investiture of the government led by Luca Niculescu, who has been designated prime minister, with what Bolojan described as a conditional and limited vote of necessity. Liberals appointed through party channels began resigning on Monday, 19 October, and had been given until the end of that week to do so.
Cristina Pocora, a state councillor in the Prime Minister's Chancellery, was the first Liberal to announce her resignation, on Monday, 19 October. She presented it as a matter of backing her party's line and thanked Bolojan for the trust he had placed in her.
“It is only natural for me to assume the decision of the party I belong to, and through my own actions.”
Ioana Dogioiu, secretary of state in the Chancellery and government spokeswoman since her appointment in July 2025, announced her departure on Facebook with a message thanking Bolojan. She also published her formal request to be released from office once the current government's mandate ends, citing Decision No. 351 of 7 July 2025. She said she could hand over her duties within five days of release, and the document is dated 19 October 2026. Before taking the post she spent more than 30 years in journalism across radio, television and print, and she was senior editor at Spotmedia.ro when she was appointed.
Angelica Fădor, a secretary of state at the Interior Ministry, also announced her resignation and said she supported the PNL's decision. According to liberal sources who spoke to HotNews, ten of the 11 state secretaries backed by the party have resigned. The one still in post is Ionel Scrioșteanu, a secretary of state at the Transport Ministry since 2019 who comes from the PNL's Ilfov branch, and he did not answer calls or messages from HotNews.
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Florin-Daniel Șandru, executive president of the Institute for the Investigation of the Crimes of Communism and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER), announced on Monday, 19 October, that he had resigned, citing the new political configuration created by the PNL's move into opposition. Under the administrative procedure, his release takes effect on Wednesday, 21 October 2026. He said his mandate, which began on 10 March 2022, aimed to make the institute more present in public life.
“It is a decision I consider natural and necessary.”
Several prefects are also leaving. Liviu Macovei, prefect of Vrancea county appointed in April 2026, announced his resignation on Monday, 19 October, and said it was a decision he had taken on:
“It is a decision I have assumed and that is natural, in the context of the National Liberal Party deciding to go into opposition.”
Macovei said he had spent nearly a year and two months as subprefect and almost six months as prefect. Bogdan George Păstrăv, the PNL prefect of Suceava county, has also resigned. Adrian Picoiu, prefect of Constanța, said he would resign after the new government is invested and keep the prefecture running until a successor is named. In Caraș-Severin, Cristian Gâfu, a liberal appointed prefect on 30 April by government decision after social democrat Ioan Dragomir resigned, has not yet resigned. He said he would do so when the party asks, adding that he would not continue as a prefect appointed by a liberal government once the PNL is no longer in the executive.
A vote on the Niculescu government is still to come, and the articles do not give its date. Dogioiu's release is tied to the end of the current government's mandate, Șandru's is due on 21 October, and Picoiu's depends on the investiture. The departures remain open for Gâfu and for the one state secretary who has not yet resigned. Pocora said she would keep contributing wherever she can.
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Government spokeswoman Ioana Dogioiu announced her departure on Monday, 19 October, as party-backed officials across ministries and prefectures began stepping down after the PNL chose opposition.
AI text based on reports by Digi24, adevarul.ro, Libertatea and other publishers. Published .