Romania – Following the elections that took place two weeks ago, Romania got a new nominee for Prime Minister, which happens to be a Muslim woman.
The new Prime Minister of Romania could be Sevil Shhaideh, born Sevil Cambek. She would be therefore both the first female and the first Muslim Prime Minister of this Balkanic pious Christian country. She is an economist, and has been minister of the regional development and the public administration for six months in 2015.
Mrs Shhaideh’s mother is member of the old Crimean Tatar community of Romania, which is settled in Romania since the 13th century, although her father is Turkish. Her second and current husband, Akram Shhaideh, is a Syrian businessman close to the Assad regime, owning several properties in Latakia, Syria.
The right-wing opposition claims she is a puppet of Dragnea
Liviu Dragnea, the leader of the PSD — the Social Democrat party — and current President of the chamber of Deputies, should have been Prime Minister. But since he has been convicted for trying to rig a referendum in 2012, the Romanian law forbid him to hold a government office, and this has been enforced by the liberal right-wing President of the Republic Klaus Iohannis. Although, some commentators claimed it was an unconstitutional political move. “An unjust sentence and an unconstitutional law did not allow me to ask for the prime minister’s office. For now,” told Dragnea.
Liviu Dragnea told also the press that he would keep the overall political responsibility over a Shhaideh government. Hence, many voices from the opposition complain about Shhaideh being a puppet used by Dragnea to rule indirectly. But the President Iohannis did not nominated Sevil Shhaideh yet, claiming her husband, as a Syrian citizen, poses a threat for her office as Prime Minister and her responsibilities inside the NATO.
