Another no-confidence motion

A no-confidence motion by the opposition has been rejected by Parliament in Bucharest

Florentin Căpitănescu, 27.05.2014, 14:40

Filed during the European parliamentary election campaign and voted one day after the elections, the no-confidence motion initiated by the opposition stood no chance of passing.

Though rather dormant after the 2012 parliamentary elections, the opposition in Romania has lately started to show signs of activity. The revival actually coincided with the decision made by the National Liberal Party, the second most important party in Romania, to leave the ruling alliance, following an open political conflict with the Social-Democrat Prime Minister Victor Ponta.

The National Liberal Party tried to stay active in the opposition by making use of the most visible instrument at its disposal, namely the no-confidence motion. However, the motion filed by the National Liberal Party and signed by all opposition parties in Romania was rejected in Monday’s plenary parliamentary session. This means that the opposition needs to do more than that in order to be able to really become a pain in the neck of the ruling power, made up of the Social Democratic Party, the National Union for the Progress of Romania and the Conservative Party, plus the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania. The motion got only 176 votes, although it had been signed by 231 MPs. In that motion, the opposition was accusing the Ponta government of delaying the implementation of important measures for the business environment, such as a lower contribution to the social security fund and no tax on reinvested profits.

Moreover, the signatories accused Prime Minister Ponta of using money from the state budget for electoral purposes and of trying to control the judiciary. According to political analysts, though, the opposition’s mobilization was rather heavy, also because the voting in Parliament was scheduled right after the European parliamentary elections, when a lot of energy was consumed. Prime Minister Victor Ponta, who attended the parliamentary debates on the no-confidence motion, made the connection between the elections and the motion, which would have needed 286 votes to pass.

Victor Ponta: “This motion was filed as an element of the election campaign. The campaign is over, people have cast their vote, now it’s time we all went back to work.”

The outgoing president of the National Liberal Party, Crin Antonescu, termed as undemocratic the Prime Minister’s decision not to respond to the accusations laid down in the motion.

Crin Antonescu: “Maybe you are tired after the election campaign. However, this is no reason for you Mr. Prime Minister to dismiss the no-confidence motion, a basic tool of parliamentary democracy, with the statement that you have uttered here today. Your obligation is to respond.”

Mention should be made that it’s for the first time that Victor Ponta has faced a no-confidence motion since he took over the office of Prime Minister.