Romanian President urges governing coalition to solve its political crisis

Romania's President Klaus Iohannis urged the governing coalition to solve their political crisis as soon as possible to avoid political instability, after the Social Democratic Party (PSD) leaders managed to isolate Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu in an attempt to force his resignation. The President's message was delivered by the Presidential Administration’s spokesperson Madalina Dobrovolschi on June 15, the day after the governing coalition made up of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) announced that they withdrew the political support for the cabinet led by Sorin Grindeanu, after less than six months in power. Moreover, the ruling coalition wanted Sorin Grindeanu to resign from the position of Prime Minister. However, Grindeanu said that he would only step down if President Klaus Iohannis guaranteed somehow that he would name a PSD member to replace him. He added that he didn’t want his party to lose the Prime Minister’s seat. Meanwhile, all the ministers in the Grindeanu cabinet decided to resign. UPDATE: Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu was excluded from the PSD party and the Social Democrats are set to file a no-confidence motion against the Grindeanu cabinet, News.ro reported. Both decisions were taken with a unanimity of votes at a PSD National Executive Committee meeting that took place June 15. The President will initiate the constitutional proceedings to appoint a candidate for Prime Minister only after this position will become vacant, either as a result of the Prime Minister's resignation or by the adoption of a no-confidence motion in Parliament, according to the Romanian Presidency’s spokesperson. Madalina Dobrovolschi announced that the President received the open letter signed by the PSD and ALDE presidents, in which they were announcing that they have withdrawn the political support for the Government. “The President of Romania noted that dissatisfaction exists within the ruling coalition related to the executive’s activity, and that the change of the entire cabinet is wanted,” said Madalina Dobrovolschi. The PSD leader Liviu Dragnea announced on the evening of June 14 that the party decided to withdraw the political support for the Government and would want the entire cabinet to step down because it failed to fulfill the projects included in the governing program. The conclusion was based on an internal analysis made by a PSD committee. According to the PSD and ALDE leaders, Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu is the one to blame for all of his cabinet’s failures. However, Grindeanu said that he finds the internal evaluation to be unfair, and that this analysis is just a pretext for the coalition leaders to say that he must resign. In a Facebook message posted on Thursday morning, the Prime Minister thanked the PSD mayors and members for their support, told them to not be afraid, and to remain "on the good side".