Guvernarea Manolache Costache Epureanu din Ţara Românească (1860-1861)
Manolache Costache Epureanu, Prime Minister in Valachia (1860-1861)

Summary/Abstract: The Wallachian administration of Manolache Costache Epureanu started immediately after the failure of his cabinet in Moldavia (1859-1860). The peaceful political climate that seemed to dominate the first months of the new cabinet allowed the prime minister and his allies to implement certain reforms and to elaborate several legislative projects in various fields. The head of government elaborated a project regarding the establishment of a National Bank. The Financial Statute adopted by the government in December 1860 established a set of modern rules for the administration of the budget. The minister of public education, Vasile Boerescu, initiated an ambitious project of education reform in the United Principalities. Manolache Costache Epureanu also tried to reform the cabinet, by abolishing the Ministry of Control and establishing a Ministry of Public Works. The cabinet also participated in the unification of the Moldavian and Wallachian armies. Nevertheless, the political instability brought the administration of Manolache Costache not only to an early end, but to a failure not far from a political catastrophe. After the tensioned parliamentary debates concerning the urban revolts of Craiova and Ploieşti, the Prince Alexandru Ioan I agreed with the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly. In the following elections, the conservative and radical opposition gained a clear majority. After the resignation of the government, the ministers were impeached. This decision of the Assembly temporarily weakened the political position of the Prince and set a rather inconvenient precedent (from the point of view of the executive power) in the Romanian parliamentary practice.

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