Romania could see 1st female Muslim prime minister

Romania could be headed for its first female prime minister, an economist who is a member of Romania's small Muslim community.

Liviu Dragnea, chairman of Romania's Social Democratic party, which won the December 11 parliamentary election, proposed today that Sevil Shhaideh take the post of prime minister. The announcement was a surprise because her name is not widely known in Romania.

Shhaideh, 52, is a party member but did not run as a lawmaker in the election. She was the minister for regional development for six months in 2015, and is currently an official in the regional development ministry.

President Klaus Iohannis is consulting with political leaders before nominating a prime minister, who Parliament needs to approve. If approved, she would also become the country's first Muslim prime minister.
 

Dragnea is banned from being premier because he has a conviction for election fraud.

Today, Dragnea called his April 2016 conviction "unjust" and said the law that stops him from being premier was "profoundly unconstitutional." The new Parliament could vote to change the 2001 law that bans anyone with a conviction of holding a ministerial post.