Romania’s Social-Democrat (PSD) government led by prime minister Viorica Dăncilă has lost a vote of no confidence in parliament, throwing the already unstable Romanian political life into an outright crisis.
In a joint session of parliament’s two chambers, 238 of the 465 deputies and senators voted against the Dăncilă cabinet, including representatives of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Transylvania (RMDSZ). 233 votes were needed for the motion to pass.
“It is clear that the current government does not have sufficient internal resources – neither professional nor political ones – and it also lacks the ‘fuel’ for governing. Today, we don’t see that the conditions for governing would exist,” RMDSZ president Hunor Kelemen said during the debate of the motion of no confidence.
The Social-Democrats came to power January 4, 2017 following the December 2016 legislative elections and have since had four prime ministers (one of them only acting) and replaced 78 cabinet ministers.
According to the Romanian constitution, president Klaus Iohannis must now begin consultations with the parliamentary parties and designate a politician to form a new government within 60 days. If a new government cannot be approved by parliament within that time frame, the president must then dissolve parliament and call new elections.
To complicate matters further, Romania will also hold presidential elections November 10, with a second round November 24, if none of the candidates get an absolute majority in the first round.
Title image: Prime minister Viorica Dăncilă
