Bolojan Cabinet faces no-confidence motion
After ten months in office, Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan faces his toughest test yet: a no-confidence motion
Corina Cristea, 04.05.2026, 14:00
The motion was initiated by the Social Democrats (PSD), Bolojan’s former governing partners. In a surprising move, PSD has allied with AUR, the ultra-nationalist populist party, which label itself “sovereignist”. The document drafted by the two parties criticizes the efficiency strategy the Prime Minister is attempting to implement amidst a very high budget deficit.
The motion has gathered 254 signatures from PSD, AUR, S.O.S. Romania, POT, the PACE group and unaffiliated MPs, which is well above the threshold required both for filing and for the motion to pass. The text accuses the government of destroying the economy, impoverishing the population and the “fraudulent sale of state assets”, referring to efforts aimed at streamlining state-owned companies. The initiators claim the government is preparing the harshest sell-off of strategic assets in two decades and invoke a constant refusal of dialogue and the blocking of reasonable solutions.
In response to this initiative, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan argues that the attacks are coming precisely because he has “closed the state’s piggy bank” and reduced waste. His figures for the ten-month mandate show a 12% increase in budget revenues and a 3% decrease in spending.
“During this time, the Prime Minister of Romania has not been a convenient Prime Minister for waste, for the breaking of agreements, for lack of seriousness, or for shunning responsibility. All this time, we have taken several measures that have clearly caused strong irritation. Consider that, for years, the state budget was used as a piggy bank”.
A vote is scheduled for Tuesday in Parliament. The Liberals argue that the government’s fate is still being decided at the negotiating table, talking to each individual MP. In either outcome, new rounds of consultations with the President will follow. On Sunday evening, thousands of people took to the streets in Bucharest and other cities to show support for the reforms proposed by the Bolojan Cabinet. Protesters expressed trust in the Prime Minister, describing him as a man of integrity and high seriousness who can lead Romania toward economic recovery.
However, a poll carried out by the Center for Urban and Regional Sociology (CURS) after PSD left the coalition, shows that 58% of respondents believe the head of government should resign, while 40% disagree. Regarding voting intentions, AUR leads with 34%, followed by PSD with 23% and PNL with 18%. USR is at 10%, while UDMR stands at 5%, with the poll carrying a 3% margin of error. Political instability has caused the Romanian Leu to start the trading week at a historic low. On Thursday, the last working day before the May 1st mini-holiday, the official National Bank exchange rate for the Euro was 5.14 Lei. (VP)
