The Social Democrat PM Victor Ponta
\nTuesday faced another no-confidence motion, the fourth so far. As expected, the
\n275 votes required for the motion to pass were not gathered, so the Romanian
\nGovernment stays in office. The argument put forth by the main party in
\nopposition, the National Liberal Party, had to do with the prime minister’s
\nlegal problems. The Liberals argued that Victor Ponta can no longer head the
\ngovernment, because he lost his credibility after being sent to court by the
\nNational Anti-Corruption Directorate under corruption charges. Forgery of
\nprivate documents, accessory to tax evasion and money laundering are the
\ncharges brought against him in a case involving legal assistance contracts
\nsigned by the Turceni and Rovinari power companies in the south of the country.
\nIn Parliament, Alina Gorghiu, the co-president of the National Liberal Party in
\nOpposition said before the vote that Victor Ponta was a prime minister who
\ncould no longer represent Romania with dignity:<\/p>\n
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\n
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Victor Ponta will leave
\nhis seat, sooner or later. And by the time local elections are held, we will
\nhave a new PM, because you will not be able to protect him forever. Eventually,
\nyou will have to release him from office. But my colleagues and I call on you
\nto do it now, to do it today, while the wounds he has caused can still be
\nrepaired. Obviously, you, the MPs from the Social Democratic Party, the
\nNational Union for the Progress of Romania and the Alliance of Liberals and
\nDemocrats, will tell me that keeping Victor Ponta in office is fully democratic
\nand constitutional. It is. But it is also deeply immoral and completely
\nunfair.<\/p>\n
\n
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<\/p>\n
Ponta has repeatedly dismissed the
\naccusations and has turned down President Klaus Iohannis and the Liberal
\nOpposition’s calls for his resignation. On Tuesday he told Parliament that he
\ndid not see this as a no-confidence motion, because he was not criticized for
\nthe activity of his Cabinet. He said that the national economy was growing, and
\nRomania was a source of stability in the region. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I was prepared for a
\nno-confidence motion with figures, economic data, social and legislative
\nmeasures. But given that the Opposition has nothing critical about the
\ngovernment to say, I don’t think I need to present them once again here. I
\nbelieve the intention of the National Liberal Party and Liberal Democratic
\nParty, namely to hide behind prosecutors, to wait them to do the Opposition’s
\njob in their place, is fundamentally wrong, has nothing to do with the
\nprinciples of democracy, and I also believe that in Parliament we are in charge
\nof politics, not justice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The ruling partners of the Social
\nDemocratic Party said the motion was based on political reasons and attended
\nthe meeting, but did not vote.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Victor Ponta cabinet faced a new no-confidence vote in Parliament on Tuesday, but predictably the motion failed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":65377,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[29284,29311],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-65376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-no-confidence-motion","tag-ponta-cabinet"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n