Motion against the Finance Minister

Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said he would not take any measure against the Finance Minister after the Senate passed a simple motion against him

Daniela Budu, 10.12.2019, 14:00

Romanian Senators on Monday passed
a simple motion filed by the Social-Democrats against Liberal Finance Minister
Florin Citu. The National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, the Democratic
Union of Ethnic Hungarians as well as unaffiliated Senators voted against, while
Social-Democratic Senators voted in favor. The initiators of the motion accuse
Citu of making hazardous declarations at the start of his mandate, causing a
spike in the exchange rate, which in turn entailed higher interest rates and
price hikes for Romanians. Florin Citu claims the motion filed by the
Social-Democratic Party is purely political and that he would step down only if
the Liberal Party demands it. Citu says the former Finance Minister Eugen
Teodorovici knew at the start of 2019 that the budget deficit would increase to
4% without taking additional measures.

The motion is not about me, it is
a political undertaking that tries to conceal the dire political problems of
Romania. Its initiators obviously want me to keep quit regarding the disastrous
situation I found at the Finance Ministry. To them and to all the
Social-Democrats I say the following: the National Liberal Party promised it would tell Romanians the truths at any cost. Enough is enough! Things cannot
continue this way. The time you could steal without being held accountable
stops here.

In turn, Liberal Senator Alina
Gorghiu says the Social-Democrats have no real reasons to launch criticism at
Florin Citu. Social-Democrat Senator Stefan Oprea has told Florin Citu he is
promoting measures that would take the budget deficit to figures he was
estimating while he was in opposition.

The figures you were prophesizing,
at times in a very hysterical manner, when you spoke about the
Social-Democratic governance, must come true today, and you need to make sure
the 4.4% deficit is real, by any means possible. It matters little that budget
revenues have been at a standstill for the past two months, or that public
spending has skyrocketed during your term. All that matters is that your 4.4%
deficit estimate should stand.

Interim Social-Democratic leader
Marcel Ciolacu believes the National Liberal Party did not understand
Parliament’s vote of no-confidence against Florin Citu. After the motion was
passed, Ludovic Orban said he would not replace Florin Citu, arguing the
Social-Democratic Party is not entitled to criticize and ask for resignations
after the disastrous budget it left behind. Under the Romanian Constitution,
the passing of a simple motion does not necessarily entail the dismissal of the
minister in question.

(Translated by V. Palcu)