No-confidence motion against Liberal-led government is backed by over half of MPs, AUR leader says
The Romanian Social Democratic Party (PSD), formerly part of the centrist ruling coalition, and the far-right opposition party Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) have filed a no-confidence motion against the Ilie Bolojan government. The motion has the signatures of 251 members of Parliament, more than enough to bring down the executive, according to George Simion, the president of AUR.
The motion was first announced yesterday by the two parties, and could be debated and voted in Parliament next week.
The Romanian Parliament is made up of 463 senators and deputies, and 233 votes are needed to constitute a majority. PSD (129) and AUR (90) have 219 representatives taken together, but they managed to gain the support of others in the legislative body.
AUR leader George Simion told the press that the motion will pass without issues in a vote scheduled on May 5. “We will have no emotions,” he said, cited by News.ro.
The far-right leader sought to minimize the consequences of the fall of the government. “We must return to democracy and parliamentary procedures. This is the will of the Romanian people, not certain interest groups or parties that do not have sufficient parliamentary representation and do not enjoy the sympathy of Romanians,” George Simion underlined.
He mentioned that the vote of Romanians in the elections of 2024 and in 2025 showed that there is a desire for change, but that this change has not come yet. The president of AUR also said that the party advocates for early elections, as long as they are organized correctly by an impartial government.
The current government, Simion said, overburdened citizens with taxation in order to tackle a wide, 7.65% deficit, down from 8.65% in 2024.
If the motion passes, which is highly likely, the president will invite parliamentary parties to consultations, and a new government will be formed. In fact, consultations have been ongoing ever since the Social Democratic Party voted last week to withdraw political support for prime minister Ilie Bolojan.
“Unfortunately, we were not invited (to the consultations), and we are the second party in the country in Parliament and the first in the voting preferences of Romanians,” the AUR leader said.
Meanwhile, the PM in office argued that the political turmoil has impacted investors’ confidence in Romania and threatened its ability to absorb EU funds.
(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea)
