Motion of no confidence against the finance minister

The Romanian finance minister Florin Cîțu is facing a second simple motion of no confidence after the one passed by the Senate at the end of 2019.

Daniela Budu, 12.05.2020, 14:00

The Romanian Chamber of Deputies debated, on Monday, a simple motion of no confidence tabled by the Social Democratic Party – PSD against the finance minister, Liberal Florin Cîțu. The PSD is showing discontent with the measures taken by the current government to re-launch the economy. The opposition claims that, after two months of state of emergency, after postponements and changes of laws, the finance minister has not managed to come up with efficient measures to support the economy.

The Social Democrats say they tabled the motion because the government did not take any concrete measures to protect entrepreneurs and to maintain the living standards to an adequate level, in the context in which other states allotted up to 15% of the GDP to re-launch the economy. The Social Democratic MP Andrei Pop claims that, although the government has taken over a growing economy, with a small budget deficit and a low public debt, as a share in the GDP, the finance minister Florin Cîțu practically ruined the economy.

Andrei Pop: “While the IMF, the World Bank and the European Commission forecast that Romania is going to face economic difficulties, the finance minister seems to be living an endless delirium, as he has announced that Romanians are in for fantastic things. The only fantastic things in store for us are: recession, unemployment, inflation, bankruptcy and poverty.”

In turn, the leader of the Social Democratic MPs, Alfred Simonis, has criticized the finance minister for the loans taken out of late, and for their impact on citizens by the end of the year. Florin Cîțu has rejected all accusations and retorted with criticism himself, related to the economic situation left behind by the former Social Democratic government. He explained that the government had to take out loans to cover for the expenses made by the previous PSD governments, claiming that the decisions of the current government will help Romania recover fast after the crisis.

The finance minister has given several examples to support his argument, namely the SMEs Invest Program for small and medium sized enterprises, the digitalization of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration and the increased tax collection. Minister Florin Cîțu accused the Social Democrats of using the crisis to hamper the government’s activity.

Florin Cîțu: “I am here to tell Romanians that, while we are successfully managing this crisis, the National Liberal government and I, the signatories to the motion are trying to stop us. For two months, when the government has implemented measures to re-launch the economy, they modified all these measures in Parliament in a criminal and populist manner.”

The Liberal MP Lucian Heiuş says that the text of the motion is a ‘black paper’ of all the Social Democratic governments, while the Save Romania Union MP, Claudiu Năsui, believes that Romania has missed the opportunity for deep reforms in this period of crisis. The simple motion of no confidence against the finance minister will be voted on Wednesday. (translation by L. Simion)