No-confidence motion against the Government

The cabinet headed by the Liberal Florin Cîţu was dismissed

Eugen Coroianu, 05.10.2021, 16:39

The cabinet headed by the Liberal Florin Cîţu was dismissed on Tuesday
following a no-confidence motion backed by 3 out of the 5 political parties in
the Parliament of Romania.

The document tabled by the Social Democrats and entitled STOP poverty,
price rises and convicted criminals reads that Romania’s only way out of the
on-going political, economic and social crisis is for the Cîțu government
to step down.

The Social Democrats criticised the Cabinet for Romanians’ worsening
living standards, for the lack of measures to counter the energy price rises
and the depreciation of the national currency, and for the alarming increase of
the country’s public debt. The list also includes the poor absorption of EU
funds, the inadequate implementation of support programmes for small businesses
and the disinterest in the Romanian farmers’ problems.

The Opposition also
blamed the government made up of the National Liberal Party, USR and the
Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania for the disaster in public
healthcare, and argued that instead of fighting the COVID pandemic, the
government managed to hinder the fight against chronic diseases.

The Social Democrats were by no means lenient with USR PLUS either,
although Cîţu’s cabinet became a minority government precisely due to the USR leaving
the ruling coalition. But in spite of the criticism, USR backed the
no-confidence motion, to make sure that Florin Cîţu, whom they blame for
breaking up the coalition, is sacked. The nationalist party AUR also supported
the motion.

Ahead of the vote, Florin Cîţu described what he called the new majority
(the Social Democratic Party, USR, AUR) of being irresponsible. The head of the
Liberal floor group in the Chamber of Deputies, Florin Roman, said after the
vote that the Liberals will come up with a new PM nomination, as soon as the
party’s leading structures decide so.

The Social Democrats are hoping for early elections, and, should a
political majority be reached, they are considering a government of experts
until such elections are held, the party chief Marcel Ciolacu said. The ball is
now in president Iohannis’s court, according to the Constitution, the Social
Democratic leader also said, and emphasised the need to overcome this moment
of political hysteria and to move into a responsible and constitution-abiding
area.

The new president of USR, Dacian Cioloş, called on the outgoing PM to
show self-discipline and said he expected a balanced response from the
National Liberal Party. He said he would refrain from further comments until a realistic
proposal for a ruling coalition is made.

In turn, Deputy George Simion, co-president of AUR party, said Florin
Cîţu should not be kept even on an interim term, and mentioned that his party
has a list of experts ready for a technocratic government, and will negotiate
it with the other political parties. (tr. A.M. Popescu)