Romania’s Ruling Coalition Breaks Down

The current political crisis in Romania widens. AUR, one of the Opposition parties, has already registered a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Florin Citu. The motion was also signed by USR-PLUS MPs, but only after in the original text of the motion there was erased any accusation against the USR-PLUS ministers.

The alliance of the former ruling coalition party USR-PLUS with the Opposition party AUR generated controversy. Prime Minister Florin Citu accused AUR of being ‘extremists‘ and told the press he would complain to the official institutions in Brussels about this situation. Also, he said he expected the resignation of all the USR-PLUS ministers after they had allied with the Opposition against the Government.

On the other hand, President Klaus Iohannis mentioned that this alliance between AUR and USR-PLUS broke the confidence of the Romanian people who, in his opinion, want the country to be ruled by a center-right coalition.

Meanwhile, the main opposition party, PSD – Social Democratic Party says its MPs will vote a no-confidence motion against Prime Minster Citu, even though the procedure was initiated by another party. PSD was preparing their own no-motion text.

At the same time, PSD doesn’t offer any signs they want to rule the country during this rather complicated period. Party leader Marcel Ciolacu told the press on many occasions that his party wants to win all the elections in 2024, meaning the presidential elections, the local and the parliamentary elections. In this context, the future Prime Minister could be nominated by the very same party who offered the current one, PNL – National Liberal Party. Sources mention Ilie Bolojan, the leader of PNL Bihor, a country from Western Romania, as a potential proposal for Prime Minister, but this is only one of many variants to be considered.

On Monday the USR-PLUS ministers are expected to resign from office, a situation that will make PNL a minority ruling party. USR-PLUS could return to the ruling coalition once Florin Citu is ousted from office.