Saturday

10th Jun 2023

Romanian government out after no-confidence vote

  • Romania once again in chaos after prime minister Florin Cîţu lost no-confidence vote (Photo: andreistroe)
Listen to article

Romania's liberal government was ousted on 5 October (Tuesday) following a no-confidence vote overwhelmingly endorsed by parliament.

The no-confidence motion, tabled last week by the opposition Social Democrat Party, needed 234 votes to pass, but got 281 - the largest number of votes ever recorded in Romania for such a motion.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The cabinet, led by Florin Cîţu, faced the largest coalition ever created against an incumbent government.

It was not only the Social Democrat Party and populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians opposition parties backing the vote, but also the Save Romania Union party (USR), a former governing coalition partner, vouching to oust Cîţu.

Another first for the ousted cabinet was also that two motions of no confidence were simultaneously tabled against it.

Hopes are that this week's vote will end a political crisis which began over a month ago after the reformist USR party backed down from the centre-right coalition.

USR cried foul when its justice minister, Stelian Ion, was swiftly sacked by Cîţu after refusing to endorse a €10bn regional development program.

USR called the dismissal of its justice minister "abusive and groundless" and the prime minister's investment plan was merely an attempt to buy local political support, it said.

In post-communist Romania, over 40 motions of no confidence were tabled, six were adopted, making Cîțu's cabinet the sixth dismissed following a vote of no confidence.

What's next?

According to the Romanian constitution, the president will now consult parliamentary parties on appointing a new prime minister. Meanwhile, Cîţu will remain as interim PM for the next 45 days.

The designated prime minister will request, within 10 days from the appointment, a parliamentary vote of confidence.

If he or she fails and if two consecutive prime ministerial proposals are rejected the constitution says that the president may dissolve parliament and trigger early elections.

While Cîţu's National Liberal Party hopes to get the now interim PM reappointed and back into his old job, the opposition Social Democrats want early elections.

USR, the country's third largest party, said before the vote that it wants its newly elected boss, Dacian Cioloș, as Romania's future PM.

Just five days ago Cioloș said he was not interested in the job: "I was prime minister, but now I'm not concerned about this position. I have responsibilities in the European Parliament, I have a mandate there".

Cioloș, a former PM himself, was elected over the weekend to lead the USR party. Soon after winning the internal party election, Cioloș renounced its leadership from the Renew Europe group.

Some political pundits regard Cioloș as a presidential hopeful in 2024, backed by the party he now leads.

But regardless of who the next PM will be, Romania's Covid crisis is only getting worse.

The day of the no-confidence vote was also the day Romania recorded its highest number of Covid-19 infections ever - 15,037 cases.

Author bio

Cristian Gherasim is a freelance journalist contributing to EUobserver, Euronews, EU Reporter, Katoikos, Von Mises Institute, and bne IntelliNews, with a particular focus on European and regional affairs.

Romania's Covid 'fourth wave' surpasses first outbreak

The weekly trend now puts Romania ahead of all other EU member states - and sixth worldwide. On 28 September Romania registered another first: the highest number of daily new Covid cases since the pandemic began over 18 months ago.

Romania most keen to join eurozone

The survey was carried out in seven member states that have not yet adopted the single currency: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden. Denmark has decided not to join, having negotiated an opt-out.

Negotiations on asylum reform to start next week, says MEP

The European Parliament is seeking to launch negotiations on key asylum reforms with member states as early as next week. The demand follows Thursday's breakthrough political agreement in Luxembourg among EU interior ministers.

EU gig workers compromise dubbed ‘a disaster for workers’

After several attempts to reach a common position, the EU Council could finally reach an agreement on the platform workers' rules at the upcoming ministerial meeting — but disagreements over the employment status of these workers remain sharp.

EU gig workers compromise dubbed ‘a disaster for workers’

After several attempts to reach a common position, the EU Council could finally reach an agreement on the platform workers' rules at the upcoming ministerial meeting — but disagreements over the employment status of these workers remain sharp.

Latest News

  1. Negotiations on asylum reform to start next week, says MEP
  2. EU gig workers compromise dubbed ‘a disaster for workers’
  3. EU's one-off chance to influence Laos taking over ASEAN chair
  4. Belgian bâtonnier on Russia: 'You can have a client you don't like'
  5. EU's proposed ethics body 'toothless', say campaigners
  6. Study: 90% of Spanish inflation 'driven by corporate profits'
  7. If Spanish economy is doing well, why is Sanchez poised to lose?
  8. EU lawyers for Russia: making 'good' money?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains
  2. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  3. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us