The no-confidence motion rejected

The left-wing cabinet headed by Viorica Dancila has survived the first no-confidence motion filed by the opposition

Bogdan Matei, 28.06.2018, 14:30

The no-confidence motion initiated by the National Liberal Party and supported by the Save Romania Union and the People’s Movement Party blamed the government in particular for the severe deterioration of the country’s macro-economic climate. The increase in the Romanian Interbank Offer Rate (ROBOR), the index on the basis of which banks establish their interest rates, the accelerated inflation, the chaos created by the changes brought to the Fiscal Code, the lack of investment in infrastructure and the attempts to nationalize private pensions were the main accusations leveled by the Opposition.

The signatories also claim that, just like with the previous two cabinets, headed by Sorin Grindeanu and Mihai Tudose, respectively, the Prime Minister is just a name, as the real leader and decision-maker is the president of the Social Democratic Party, Liviu Dragnea.

The Save Romania Union Senator Radu Mihail: “We are in a situation in which we have to debate a no-confidence motion against the third government, endorsed by Mr. Dragnea, because the Dancila cabinet is now a threat, through its ministers, to the private property of 7 million contributors to the second pillar of the pension fund. There is no guarantee that the Dancila cabinet will not lead the country into a situation in which there will be no money for pensions for the current employees. Since the beginning of the year, when you took over the office of prime-minister, all you have done was to sink the country’s economy into ruin, to generate panic and distrust, to chase away foreign investors and to accelerate the negative developments affecting Romanian economy.”

In response, the Prime Minister said that the no-confidence motion was full of false statements, devoid of any rational arguments and therefore just a political game played by the right-wing opposition.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila: “I did not expect the motion to be just a long list of false statements, a presentation of an untrue reality, made in bad faith. All that the power is doing is bad, and everything you are doing is right. You refuse to admit even the most obvious things, good things that have happened during this governing period. The first misinformation, and the most serious of all, is that there is no money left for pensions, not to mention the so-called nationalization of the second pillar.”

For the motion to pass, it should have been endorsed by 233 MPs. Only 166 voted “for”, and four “against”. During the vote, the MPs members of the majority stayed in, while the members of the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians, which is not part of the Government, but is connected with the ruling majority by means of a parliamentary cooperation agreement, left the room.

The Social Democrats have congratulated themselves for the results and have stressed the fact that the Government remaining in power will ensure Romania’s stability. The Liberals, on the other hand, have stated that the result of the vote is one that shows lack of responsibility to the future of the country. Voices in the extra-parliamentary opposition say that early legislative elections are needed, because, under the leadership of Liviu Dragnea, whose criminal record is getting thicker by the day, the current majority has lost its legitimacy.